MPEG Development History

MPEG is the abbreviation of Moving Pictures Experts Group. This expert group was founded in 1988 and is responsible for establishing video and audio standards for CDs. Its members are all technical experts in the fields of video, audio and systems. Since the ISO/IEC1172 compression coding standard was proposed and formulated by this group, MPEG became famous all over the world. The MPEG-X version we refer to today refers to a set of video, audio and data compression standards formulated and issued by ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and ISO (International Standards Organization).

The creators of MPEG originally planned to develop four versions: MPEG1-MPEG4, to meet different bandwidth and digital image quality requirements. Later, because MPEG3 was abandoned, there are only three versions of MPEG: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4. In general, MPEG is superior to other compression/decompression schemes in three aspects. First, since it was studied and formulated as an international standard at the beginning, MPEG has good compatibility. Second, MPEG can provide better compression ratios than other algorithms, up to 200:1. More importantly, while providing a high compression ratio, MPEG has little data loss.

MPEG-1

MPEG-1 was established in 1992 and is designed as an industrial standard. It is applicable to devices with different bandwidths, such as CD-ROM, Video-CD, and CD-i. It can compress images with SIF standard resolution (352X240 for NTSC and 352X288 for PAL), with a transmission rate of 1.5Mbits/sec, 30 frames per second, and CD (laser disc) sound quality. The quality level is basically the same as VHS. The encoding rate of MPEG can reach up to 4-5Mbits/sec, but as the rate increases, the quality of the decoded image decreases.

MPEG-1 is also used for video transmission on digital telephone networks, such as asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL), video on demand (VOD), and educational networks. At the same time, MPEG-1 can also be used as a recording medium or to transmit audio on the INTERNET.

MPEG-2

MPEG-2 was formulated in 1994, with the design goal of high-level industrial standard image quality and higher transmission rate. The transmission rate that MPEG-2 can provide is between 3-10Mbits/sec, and its resolution under NTSC standard can reach 720X486. MPEG-2 can also provide and be able to provide broadcast-level video and CD-level sound quality. MPEG-2 audio encoding can provide left, right, center and two surround channels, as well as an amplified bass channel, and up to 7 accompanying sound channels (the reason why DVD can have 8 language dubbing). Due to the clever processing of MPEG-2 during its design, most MPEG-2 decoders can also play MPEG-1 format data, such as VCD.

At the same time, due to the excellent performance of MPEG-2, it has been applied to HDTV, so MPEG-3, which was originally designed for HDTV, was abandoned before it was born. (MPEG-3 requires a transmission rate between 20Mbits/sev-40Mbits/sec, but this will cause slight distortion of the picture.) In addition to being the designated standard for DVD, MPEG-2 can also be used to provide broadcast-level digital video for broadcasting, cable television networks, cable networks and satellite direct broadcast (Direct Broadcast Satellite).

Another feature of MPEG-2 is that it can provide a wider range of compression ratios to meet different requirements for picture quality, storage capacity, and bandwidth.

For end users, due to the limitations of existing TV resolution, the high-definition picture quality (such as DVD pictures) brought by MPEG-2 is not obvious on TV, but its audio characteristics (such as enhanced bass, multiple sound channels, etc.) are more eye-catching.

MPEG-4

Experts from the MPEG expert group are working hard to develop MPEG-4. The MPEG-4 standard is mainly used in videophone, video email and electronic news, etc. Its transmission rate requirement is relatively low, between 4800-64000 bits/sec, and the resolution is 176X144. MPEG-4 uses very narrow bandwidth, frame reconstruction technology, compression and transmission of data, in order to obtain the best image quality with the least data.

Compared with MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, the characteristic of MPEG-4 is that it is more suitable for interactive AV services and remote monitoring. MPEG-4 is the first dynamic image standard that allows you to change from passive to active (no longer just watching, allowing you to participate in it, that is, interactive); another characteristic of it is its comprehensiveness; fundamentally, MPEG-4 attempts to blend natural objects with artificial objects (in terms of visual effects). The design goal of MPEG-4 is also wider adaptability and scalability.

MPEG Industry

In the years since MPEG was introduced, it has brought a huge impact on the computer and home appliance industries. Various products based on the MPEG standard have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. The emergence of VCD has made the video recorders that have been popular in the home appliance market for many years see the end of their life (think about it, since the emergence of VCD, are there any advertisements for video recorders on TV, newspapers and magazines?); while C-CUBE, which is famous for producing MPEG decoding chips, has made a lot of money. The competition in the market is fierce. Having advanced technology and finding the right direction in the market is the way for enterprises to prosper. In the face of the continuous development of MPEG technology, whether enterprises can keep up with the changes in trends and whether they can use newer technologies to open up a broader market are all worthy of serious consideration; as the title of a book by Mr. Andrew Grove, former president of Intel Corporation, says: "Only the paranoid can survive."