The MPEG-4 multimedia coding standard: Algorithms, architectures and applications

The upcoming MPEG-4 standard provides new possibilities for the compression and presentation of multimedia contents. The main characteristics of MPEG- 4 are the object-based coding and representation of an audio-visual scene a nd the ability to code objects of natural or synthetic origin. These featur es will enhance existing applications with new functionalities and enable s tandardised solutions for new applications. This paper provides an overview of the three major parts Systems, Visual and Audio of the new MPEG-4 stand ard, highlights implementation aspects for some envisaged types of MPEG-4 t erminals and describes possible future multimedia application scenarios usi ng MPEG-4 functionalities.