Codec Central - MPEG Codecs



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MPEG-4

General Information

Overview
MPEG-4 is a standard currently under development for the delivery of interactive multimedia across networks. As such, it is more than a single codec, and will include specifications for audio, video, and interactivity.

The video component of MPEG-4 is very similiar to H.263. It is optimized for delivery of video at Internet data rates. One implementation of MPEG-4 video is included in Microsoft's NetShow.

The rest of the MPEG-4 standard is still being designed. It was recently announced that QuickTime's file format will be used as a starting point.

Pros, Cons & Tips

Pros

Good image quality at low datarates

Cons

Standard is still being designed

Ideal source material	low-motion video
Compression time	moderate
Temporal compression?	Yes
Special features	-
Encoder availability	video encoder included in NetShow 3.0
Decoder availability	video decoder included in NetShow 3.0
Algorithm	Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) with Motion Prediction based on H.263
Manufacturer	Will be an open standard

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