As industries gravitate towards multimedia rich working environments, the usage of all kinds audio-visual content representations (streaming video, sophisticated audio canvas, visual summarization, etc.) is getting commonplace. Whether a user, content provider, or both, everybody has to cope with the main challenge this situation poses: quality access to content which implies good storage solutions, high-performance content identification, and fast, ergonomic and accurate search & retrieval.

The MPEG-7 standard, child of the acclaimed MPEG community, is taking final shape. When released in 2001, it will offer rich development opportunities in a domain of multimedia content management. MPEG display the most promising and comprehensive approach to content identification, indexing, access & retrieval, distribution under the principle of interoperability.

In order to capitalize on this opportunity, MPEG members come forward with an unprecedented initiative: They will grant limited access to their work to representatives of every industry participating in content wealth-creation and interested in fine tuning of the MPEG-7 standard to ever-changing needs of their industry. The MPEG-7 Industry Focus Group will create a platform enabling a continuous two-way exchange of ideas between MPEG developers and industry.

The public start of the MPEG-7 Industry Focus Group activities will be marked by the first workshop, to take place this autumn in Paris, France. All information is available on the MPEG-7 Industry Focus Group web site located at http://www.mpeg-7.com.

In the meantime, MPEG’s Audio subgroup began a experiments on metadata for the description of melody. This will test the ability of the proposed MPEG-7 metadata to support the classic "query-by-humming" retrieval problem: you hum a tune, which is then used by a search engine to retrieve the music you are looking for.

To support the efficient use of MPEG-7 in content delivery and broadcast environments, a binary and streamable representation of MPEG-7 descriptions is being developed MPEG is working from proposals from companies as Apple, Sony, Robert Bosch GmbH, and the Heinrich Herz Institute. The deadline for submitting new proposals on such technology is set to be the 54^th MPEG meeting in October 2000.

From several standardization efforts, such as SMPTE, the TV Anytime Forum and MPEG-7, Metadata specifications are becoming available. To avoid region specific or application specific solutions for carriage of such metadata in MPEG-2 environments, MPEG has started an amendment to MPEG-2 Systems to make one unique, generic solution for carriage of such metadata in MPEG-2 so-called ‘Transport Streams’.

For the transport of MPEG-4 over IP so far only incomplete specifications have been developed. Therefore, in order to help the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF), MPEG propose a framework that includes all the necessary elements (RTP payload format[s], SDP signaling and RTSP control). This document will be submitted by MPEG members as an Internet Draft to the next IETF meeting in August 2000. It is expected that implementation and verification of the Internet Draft can start immediately after the August IETF meeting, so that a fast progression of the Internet Draft to RFC (‘Internet Standard’)status can be started at the December 2000 IETF meeting.

Future MPEG meetings will be held Beijing, China (July 2000), France (October 1999), Israel (January 2001).

For further information about MPEG, please contact:

Dr. Leonardo Chiariglione, (Convenor of MPEG)

or

This press release and much other MPEG-related information can be found on the MPEG homepage:

http://www.cselt.it/mpeg

The MPEG homepage has links to other MPEG pages, which are maintained by some of the subgroups. It also contains links to public documents that are freely available for download to non-MPEG members.

Journalists that wish to receive MPEG Press Releases automatically can contact Rob Koenen.

For more information, check the full Press Release of the 52nd MPEG Meeting.