MPEG4 Video Floods Internet
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MPEG4 coding technology can compress video
streams from 64 kbits/s to 2 Mbits/s. This
technology will enable video streams to become
commonplace on the Internet and video will
finally become as ubiquitous a medium as text or
graphics are now.
The world of video, once confined to the television (TV) set, is
on the verge of an explosive expansion with an advance that will
allow video to be pumped through a range of networks
connected to the Internet.
What will make it possible is the next generation of
high-efficiency encoding (data compression), known as Moving
Picture Coding Experts Group Phase 4 (MPEG4).
In September 1999, the standardization of MPEG4 began after
six years of hard work. The advance was the acceptance of the
basic version (Version 1) as an international standard to satisfy
the demands of service providers and equipment manufacturers.
It offers high-efficiency encoding of video streams, reducing
them to data speeds between the range of 64 kbits/s and 2
Mbits/s.
With MPEG4, it will be possible to pass video streams over the
Internet with room to spare, whether through physical mediums
or wireless systems.
With the new standard, video will not simply play the traditional
role of providing entertainment, as it has on television. Instead, it
will join text, graphics, voice and audio as a new medium for
providing information. It will be possible for everyone to use
video as easily as they use text today.
In today's Internet access environment, the most common uses
of video are to accompany voice conversations, or to provide
free clips with purchased music software. Given the current
peak access speed of 64 kbits/s, which imposes restrictions on
resolution and motion (frame rate), applications are limited.
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(Nikkei Electronics Asia, Jan. 2000 Issue)
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