MP3 - MPEG-4, Will It Be The New Standard?
MP3 has become the industry standard in music compression. MPEG-1 audio layer-3 is where the MP3 format evolved. Now MPEG-4 is slowly becoming accepted into the industry. MPEG-4 is the final stages of development and release of the MPEG standards. This standard addresses speech and video synthesis, fractal geometry, computer visualization, and an artificial intelligence (AI) approach to reconstructing images.
RealNetworks have taken steps to start supporting a new open standard for digital video and audio, help the company’s wireless efforts.
RealNetworks will start to support the MPEG-4 standard in their upcoming versions of its RealSystem iQ and RealOne media player products. RealNetworks also will be joining 3GPP, or Third Generation Partnership a standards group aimed at setting technical specifications for third generation (3G) mobile systems. MPEG-4 could offer interactive enhancements over current formats and greatly simplify sending digital audio and video over the Internet--a process complicated by a bitter rivalry between RealNetworks and Microsoft.
Industry experts have said RealNetworks appeared less interested in helping the goals of interoperability than in bolstering its own position in wireless streaming by backing MPEG-4. The proposed standard would succeed MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, which started the MP3 Web music revolution.
"This is an extremely big public change for Real," said Bill Bernat, technology editor for Streaming Media, an industry research company. "It's a pretty big concession for them to say they need MPEG-4 this early on and that they need to be good at it."
Apple Computer and group of other technology heavyweights have led the charge for MPEG-4, creating a trade group last year called the Internet Streaming Media Association (ISMA). But now RealNetworks and Microsoft have thrown their weight behind the push for MPEG-4. RealNetworks said “has long participated in MPEG standards discussions and has supported many formats as part of a policy of creating a universal technology. “
"We've been pretty consistent in our position vis-a-vis MPEG-4," said Ben Rotholtz, RealNetworks' general manager for products and systems. "We've said all along we see MPEG-4 as another standard that we would support...Had we not supported it, it would have been a break in our policy of being a universal platform."
Despite the growing signs of support for MPEG-4, there are significant technical, licensing and marketing hurdles, which remain before it will gain traction to affect the streaming media scene. MPEG-4 patent holders whose technologies were incorporated into MPEG-4 are currently in the process of setting out non-discriminatory licensing terms.
Latest Articles