The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is a working group of experts that was formed by ISO and IEC to set standards for audio and video compression and transmission. It was established in 1988 by the initiative of Hiroshi Yasuda (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) and Leonardo Chiariglione, who has been from the beginning the Chairman of the group. The first MPEG meeting was in May 1988 in Ottawa, Canada. As of late 2005, MPEG has grown to include approximately 350 members per meeting from various industries, universities, and research institutions. MPEG's official designation is ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29 WG11 - ''Coding of moving pictures and audio'' (ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 29, Working Group 11).

Overview

The MPEG compression methodology is considered ''asymmetric'' as the encoder is more complex than the decoder. The encoder needs to be algorithmic or adaptive whereas the decoder is 'dumb' and carries out fixed actions. This is considered advantageous in applications such as broadcasting where the number of expensive complex encoders is small but the number of simple inexpensive decoders is large. The MPEG's (ISO's) approach to standardization is novel, because it is not the encoder that is standardized, but the way a decoder interprets the bitstream. A decoder that can successfully interpret the bitstream is said to be ''compliant''. The advantage of standardizing the decoder is that over time encoding algorithms can improve, yet compliant decoders continue to function with them. The MPEG standards give very little information regarding structure and operation of the encoder and implementers can supply encoders using proprietary algorithms. This gives scope for competition between different encoder designs, which means better designs can evolve and users have greater choice, because encoders of different levels of cost and complexity can exist, yet a compliant decoder operates with all of them.

MPEG also standardizes the protocol and syntax under which it is possible to combine or multiplex audio data with video data to produce a digital equivalent of a television program. Many such programs can be multiplexed and MPEG defines the way such multiplexes can be created and transported. The definitions include the metadata used by decoders to demultiplex correctly.

Sub Groups

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 - ''Coding of moving pictures and audio'' has following Sub Groups (SG):

Requirements

Systems

Video

Audio

3D Graphics Compression

Test

Cooperation with other groups

Joint Video Team

Joint Video Team (JVT) is joint project between ITU-T SG16/Q.6 (Study Group 16 / Question 6) - VCEG (Video Coding Experts Group) and ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 - MPEG for the development of new video coding recommendation and international standard. It was formed in 2001 and its main result has been H.264/MPEG-4-AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10).

Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding

Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) is a group of video coding experts from ITU-T Study Group 16 (VCEG) and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11 (MPEG). It was created in 2010 to develop High Efficiency Video Coding, a new generation video coding standard that further reduces (by 50%) the data rate required for high quality video coding, as compared to the current ITU-T H.264 / ISO/IEC 14496-10 standard. JCT-VC is co-chaired by Jens-Rainer Ohm and Gary Sullivan.

Standards

The MPEG standards consist of different ''Parts''. Each ''part'' covers a certain aspect of the whole specification. The standards also specify ''Profiles'' and ''Levels''. ''Profiles'' are intended to define a set of tools that are available, and ''Levels'' define the range of appropriate values for the properties associated with them. Some of the approved MPEG standards were revised by later amendments and/or new editions. MPEG has standardized the following compression formats and ancillary standards:

MPEG-1 (1993): ''Coding of moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage media at up to about 1,5 Mbit/s'' (ISO/IEC 11172). The first MPEG compression standard for audio and video. It is commonly limited to about 1.5 Mbit/s although the specification is capable of much higher bit rates. It was basically designed to allow moving pictures and sound to be encoded into the bitrate of a Compact Disc. It is used on Video CD, SVCD and can be used for low-quality video on DVD Video. It was used in digital satellite/cable TV services before MPEG-2 became widespread. To meet the low bit requirement, MPEG-1 downsamples the images, as well as uses picture rates of only 24–30 Hz, resulting in a moderate quality. It includes the popular MPEG-1 Audio Layer III (MP3) audio compression format.

MPEG-2 (1995): ''Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information'' (ISO/IEC 13818). Transport, video and audio standards for broadcast-quality television. MPEG-2 standard was considerably broader in scope and of wider appeal – supporting interlacing and high definition. MPEG-2 is considered important because it has been chosen as the compression scheme for over-the-air digital television ATSC, DVB and ISDB, digital satellite TV services like Dish Network, digital cable television signals, SVCD and DVD Video. It is also used on Blu-ray Discs, but these normally use MPEG-4 Part 10 or SMPTE VC-1 for high-definition content.

MPEG-3: MPEG-3 dealt with standardizing scalable and multi-resolution compression and was intended for HDTV compression but was found to be redundant and was merged with MPEG-2, as a result there is no MPEG-3 standard. MPEG-3 is not to be confused with MP3, which is MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3.

MPEG-4 (1998): ''Coding of audio-visual objects''. (ISO/IEC 14496) MPEG-4 uses further coding tools with additional complexity to achieve higher compression factors than MPEG-2. In addition to more efficient coding of video, MPEG-4 moves closer to computer graphics applications. In more complex profiles, the MPEG-4 decoder effectively becomes a rendering processor and the compressed bitstream describes three-dimensional shapes and surface texture. MPEG-4 supports Intellectual Property Management and Protection (IPMP), which provides the facility to use proprietary technologies to manage and protect content like digital rights management. It also supports MPEG-J, a fully programmatic solution for creation of custom interactive multimedia applications (Java application environment with a Java API) and many other features. Several new higher-efficiency video standards (newer than MPEG-2 Video) are included, notably:

* MPEG-4 Part 2 (or Simple and Advanced Simple Profile) and

* MPEG-4 AVC (or MPEG-4 Part 10 or H.264). MPEG-4 AVC may be used on HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs, along with VC-1 and MPEG-2.

In addition, the following standards, while not sequential advances to the video encoding standard as with MPEG-1 through MPEG-4, are referred to by similar notation:

MPEG-7 (2002): ''Multimedia content description interface''. (ISO/IEC 15938)

MPEG-21 (2001): ''Multimedia framework (MPEG-21)''. (ISO/IEC 21000) MPEG describes this standard as a ''multimedia framework'' and provides for intellectual property management and protection.

Moreover, more recently than other standards above, MPEG has started following international standards; each of the standards holds multiple MPEG technologies for a way of application. (For example, MPEG-A includes a number of technologies on multimedia application format.)

MPEG-A (2007): ''Multimedia application format (MPEG-A)''. (ISO/IEC 23000) (e.g., Purpose for multimedia application formats, MPEG music player application format, MPEG photo player application format and others)

MPEG-B (2006): ''MPEG systems technologies''. (ISO/IEC 23001) (e.g., Binary MPEG format for XML, Fragment Request Units, Bitstream Syntax Description Language (BSDL) and others)

MPEG-C (2006): ''MPEG video technologies''. (ISO/IEC 23002) (e.g., Accuracy requirements for implementation of integer-output 8x8 inverse discrete cosine transform and others)

MPEG-D (2007): ''MPEG audio technologies''. (ISO/IEC 23003) (e.g., MPEG Surround, SAOC-Spatial Audio Object Coding and USAC-Unified Speech and Audio Coding)

MPEG-E (2007): ''Multimedia Middleware''. (ISO/IEC 23004) (a.k.a. M3W) (e.g., Architecture, Multimedia application programming interface (API), Component model and others)

''Supplemental media technologies'' (2008). (ISO/IEC 29116) Part 1: Media streaming application format protocols will be revised in MPEG-M Part 4 - MPEG extensible middleware (MXM) protocols.

MPEG-V (2011): ''Media context and control''. (ISO/IEC 23005) (a.k.a. Information exchange with Virtual Worlds) (e.g., Avatar characteristics, Sensor information, Architecture and others)

MPEG-M (2010): ''MPEG eXtensible Middleware (MXM)''. (ISO/IEC 23006) (e.g., MXM architecture and technologies, API, MPEG extensible middleware (MXM) protocols)

MPEG-U (2010): ''Rich media user interfaces''. (ISO/IEC 23007) (e.g., Widgets)

+MPEG groups of standards
Acronym for a group of standards	Title	ISO/IEC standards	First public release date (First edition)	! Description
MPEG-1	Coding of moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage media. Commonly limited to about 1.5 Mbit/s although specification is capable of much higher bit rates	ISO/IEC 11172	1993
MPEG-2	Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information	ISO/IEC 13818	1995
MPEG-3				abandoned, incorporated into MPEG-2
MPEG-4	Coding of audio-visual objects	ISO/IEC 14496	1999
MPEG-7	Multimedia content description interface	ISO/IEC 15938	2002
MPEG-21	Multimedia framework (MPEG-21)	ISO/IEC 21000	2001
MPEG-A	Multimedia application format (MPEG-A)	ISO/IEC 23000	2007
MPEG-B	MPEG systems technologies	ISO/IEC 23001	2006
MPEG-C	MPEG video technologies	ISO/IEC 23002	2006
MPEG-D	MPEG audio technologies	ISO/IEC 23003	2007
MPEG-E	Multimedia Middleware	ISO/IEC 23004	2007
(none)	Supplemental media technologies	ISO/IEC 29116	2008	will be revised in MPEG-M Part 4 - MPEG extensible middleware (MXM) protocols
MPEG-V	Media context and control	ISO/IEC 23005	2011
MPEG-M	MPEG extensible middleware (MXM)	ISO/IEC 23006	2010
MPEG-U	Rich media user interfaces	ISO/IEC 23007	2010
MPEG-H	High-Efficiency Video Coding	(planned ISO/IEC 23008)	Under development

Standardization process

A standard published by ISO/IEC is the last stage of a long process that starts with the proposal of new work within a committee. Here are some abbreviations used for marking a standard with its status:

PWI - Preliminary Work Item

NP or NWIP - New Proposal / New Work Item Proposal (e.g., ISO/IEC NP 23007)

AWI - Approved new Work Item (e.g., ISO/IEC AWI 15444-14)

WD - Working Draft

CD - Committee Draft (e.g., ISO/IEC CD 23000-5)

FCD - Final Committee Draft (e.g., ISO/IEC FCD 23000-12)

DIS - Draft International Standard

FDIS - Final Draft International Standard

PRF - Proof of a new International Standard

IS - International Standard (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007)

CD Amd / PDAmd (PDAM) - Committee Draft Amendment / Proposed Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/CD Amd 6)

FPDAmd / DAM (DAmd) - Final Proposed Draft Amendment / Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003/FPDAmd 1)

FDAM (FDAmd) - Final Draft Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/FDAmd 4)

Amd - Amendment (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/Amd 1:2007)

Other abbreviations:

TR - Technical Report (e.g., ISO/IEC TR 13818-5:2005)

TS - Technical Specification

IWA - International Workshop Agreement

Cor - Technical Corrigendum (e.g., ISO/IEC 13818-1:2007/Cor 1:2008)

A proposal of work (New Proposal) is approved at Subcommittee and then at the Technical Committee level (SC29 and JTC1 respectively - in the case of MPEG). When the scope of new work is sufficiently clarified, MPEG usually makes open requests for proposals - known as "Call for proposals". The first document that is produced for audio and video coding standards is called a Verification Model (VM). In the case of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 this was called Simulation and Test Model, respectively. When a sufficient confidence in the stability of the standard under development is reached, a Working Draft (WD) is produced. This is in the form of a standard but is kept internal to MPEG for revision. When a WD is sufficiently solid, becomes Committee Draft (CD) (usually at the planned time). It is then sent to National Bodies (NB) for ballot. The CD becomes Final Committee Draft (FCD) if the number of positive votes is above the quorum. After a review and comments issued by NBs, FCD is again submitted to NBs for the second ballot. If the FCD is approved, it becomes Final Draft International Standard (FDIS). ISO then holds a ballot with National Bodies, where no technical changes are allowed (yes/no ballot). If approved, the document becomes International Standard (IS).

ISO/IEC Directives allow also the so-called "Fast-track procedure". In this procedure a document is submitted directly for approval as a draft International Standard (DIS) to the ISO member bodies or as a final draft International Standard (FDIS) if the document was developed by an international standardizing body recognized by the ISO Council.

See also

Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG)

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)

Joint Bi-level Image Experts Group (JBIG)

Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group (MHEG)

Audio codec

Video codec

Video quality

Video compression

Pro-MPEG

MP3

Leonardo Chiariglione

Notes

External links

Official MPEG web site

MPEG.ORG

MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF)

MPEG Books

Category:Film and video technology Category:Computer file formats Category:Working groups Category:MPEG

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name	Robin Harris
birth name	Robin Hughes Harris
birth date	August 30, 1953
birth place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
death date	March 18, 1990
death place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
medium	Stand-up, film
nationality	American
active	1980–1990
genre	Satire, Observational comedy, Improvisational comedy
spouse	Exetta Harris (? - March 18, 1990) (his death) }}

Robin Hughes Harris (August 30, 1953 – March 18, 1990) was an American comedian and actor, known for his recurring comic sketch about ''Bébé's Kids''.

Childhood

Robin Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Earl, was a welder and his mother, Mattie, was a factory seamstress. In 1961, the family moved to Los Angeles where he attended Manual Arts High School. A track star, Harris received a scholarship and attended Ottawa University in Kansas. During this time, he began to hone his craft of comedy. He worked for Hughes Aircraft, a rental car company, and Security Pacific Bank to pay his bills. In 1980, he debuted at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store with little response.

Career

During the mid 80's Robin worked as the master of ceremonies at the Comedy Act Theater. His “old school” brand of humor began to gain him a mainstream following. A large-eyed stand-up churlish brand of humor and quick put-downs were his trademark. Harris made a promising feature debut playing a no-nonsense bartender in the feature film ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988). Harris performed in director Spike Lee’s ''Do the Right Thing'' (1989). As "Sweet Dick Willie," Harris served as part of the neighborhood "Greek chorus" that commented on the events of an increasingly tense day. Harris was Pop, the no-nonsense, quick-witted father of Kid in ''House Party'' (1990). He followed up later that year with a small turn as a jazz club MC in ''Mo' Better Blues''. He also had a role in Eddie Murphy's ''Harlem Nights'' (1989). Fellow comedian and actor Raymond "The RayVolution" Baxter credits Harris with him becoming a stand up, "I saw Mr. Harris at home in Chicago at a club my aunt worked for and he was nice enough to see me after a set and joke around with me. He said I was funny enough to get on the circuit at 11! So that day I went to work on my material..."

Bébé's Kids

In Harris' "Bébé's Kids" routines, Harris' girlfriend Jamika would insist that he take her friend Bébé's three bad ass children with them on a date, as she continually agreed to babysit them. The children would regularly make a fool out of and/or annoy Harris. "We Bébé's kids," they would proclaim, "we don't die...we ''multiply.''"

The Hudlin Brothers had intended to make a feature film based upon the "Bébé's Kids" sketches, but Harris died while the film was in pre-production. ''Bébé's Kids'' instead became an animated feature—the first ever to feature an all-black main cast—directed by Bruce W. Smith and featuring the voices of Faizon Love (as Harris), Vanessa Bell Calloway, Marques Houston, Nell Carter, and Tone Lōc.

Death

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, Harris died in his sleep of a heart attack in his Chicago hotel room after performing for a sold out crowd at the Regal Theater. Harris was transported back to California, and interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery, near Los Angeles. ''House Party 2'' was dedicated to his memory. Through archive footage, he makes a brief cameo appearance as a photo of him comes to life and tells Kid "Keep your mind on them books and off them 'gals!", which was actually taken from a scene in the original ''House Party''.

At the time of Harris' death, his wife was pregnant with their son, Robin Harris, Jr .

In 2006, a posthumous DVD entitled ''We Don't Die, We Multiply: The Robin Harris Story'' (2006), was released. The film features never seen before performances by Harris and accolades from his contemporaries Martin Lawrence, Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, Robert Townsend, and Joe Torry. The film also features a rap performed and dedicated to Harris by his son, Robin Harris, Jr.

Award nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film or series
1991	Independent Spirit Award	Nominated	Best Supporting Male	''House Party''

References

External links

Category:1953 births Category:1990 deaths Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:African American actors Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Ottawa University alumni