MPEG-4 systems: Overview

Abstract This paper gives an overview of Part 1 of ISO/IEC 14496 (MPEG-4 Systems). It first presents the objectives of the MPEG-4 activity. In the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards, “Systems” referred only to overall architecture, multiplexing, and synchronization. In MPEG-4, in addition to these issues, the Systems part encompasses scene description, interactivity, content description, and programmability. The description of the MPEG-4 specification follows, starting from the general architecture up to the description of the individual MPEG-4 Systems tools. Finally, a conclusion describes the future extensions of the specification, as well as a comparison between the solutions provided by MPEG-4 Systems and some alternative technologies.