[M4IF News] M4IF and Member Companies Demonstrate Commercial MPEG-4 Technolo gy at IBC

[Rob Koenen]

The Following Pres Release was released on the wire today.
Best,
Rob
M4IF and Member Companies Demonstrate Commercial MPEG-4 Technology at IBC
MPEG-4 Industry Forum Members coexhibit technology demos at major
broadcasting event, IBC in Amsterdam 13-17th September
13 September 2023 - The MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF), which is hosting
several leading MPEG-4 technology vendors at the International Broadcasting
Convention, IBC2002 in Amsterdam this week, announces substantial advances
in MPEG-4 technology and strong market adoption on a global basis.
MPEG-4 is an open, international media standard for all digital multimedia
platforms, including audio, video as well as interactive content and
services from low bandwidths to high-definition quality. MPEG-4 is the
newest representation standard in well over a decade  of successive
standards developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of the
International Standards organization (ISO) - the group that designed MPEG-2
(the digital television standard) and MPEG-1, which includes MP3 (MPEG-1,
Layer III Audio). 
Since MPEG-4 is an ISO standard, digital media companies can count on the
adoption of MPEG-4 throughout the consumer entertainment value chain, by
chip designers, device manufactures, network operators, programming
networks, content producers and network infrastructure vendors. The
resulting free market competition on a level playing field has many times
proven that open standards are the only viable route to constantly improving
quality and engineering excellence.  
"MPEG-4 is now at the point where MPEG-2 was halfway the 90's, poised for
global adoption throughout the digital media ecosystem," states Rob Koenen,
President of M4IF.  "With licensing issues resolved since July and dozens of
companies - large and small - offering interoperable MPEG-4 systems, the
technology is mature, and will shortly outpace all other digital media
content formats. No single proprietary technology vendor can compete with
the intellectual force and market adoption across industry segments that
come from open, international standards like MPEG."
MPEG-4 is designed to support the economical and industrial requirements of
high-volume, consumer electronic device value chains that enable the mass
distribution of video systems.  MPEG-2 has already been adopted as the basis
of DVD and digital broadcast networks worldwide. According to In-Stat/MDR,
the popularity of MPEG compression gave rise to an MPEG video chip market
with more than $1 billion in revenue in 2001, with annual unit shipments
were over 100 million. 
"Integration of MPEG4 audio and video compression in dedicated chips gives
much higher quality and lower cost compared to running proprietary software
on general-purpose processors," commented Guy Lauvergeon, VP Multimedia in
the Telecom, Peripheral and Automotive Groups of STMicroelectronics. 
   "Standardized, dedicated chips have driven the unprecedented market
success of MPEG2, in systems like set-top boxes and DVD players.  We expect
that the same will happen with MPEG4."
In addition to superior audio and video compression, MPEG-4 provides a
standardized framework for many other forms of media-including text,
pictures, animation, 2D and 3D objects-which can be presented in interactive
and personalized media experiences. "By analogy, MPEG-4 is to digital media
as HTML is to text and pictures-an organizing framework that is limited only
by the imagination of content creators and the innovation of technology
providers," according to Elliot Broadwin, CEO of iVAST, a leading MPEG-4
platform provider. 
Over 30 MPEG-4 vendors will be onsite at IBC, including, at M4IF's own booth
located at hall 7, booth# 620, Amphion Semiconductor (IE), Coding
Technologies (DE), Dicas (DE), Equator (US), Fraunhofer (DE), iVAST (US) and
Media Excel (US/TW). For a complete list of MPEG-4 companies at the show
visit: http://www.m4if.org/exhibitions/IBC2002 
About M4IF
M4IF represents more than 100 companies from diverse industries evenly
distributed across North America, Europe and Asia, addressing MPEG-4
adoption issues that go beyond the charter of ISO/IEC MPEG. Activities of
the forum include a long running and established interoperability program,
certification, several working groups, access to ISO/MPEG committee members,
and an annual conference (WEMP-4). For more information visit:
http://www.m4if.org. 
To join M4IF's information and discussion lists, subscribe at:
http://www.m4if.org/public/publiclistreg.html
More information
Martin Jacklin, M4IF Media Relations, (Switzerland), +41 (79) 291 1882 (m)
martin.jacklin   m4if.org