TABLE OF CONTENTS Bearing in mind that broadcasters need to be able to serve their content on multiple delivery platforms such as TV, Internet, broad- band, DVD, wireless, VHS, and so on, they are in need of solutions that provide them with the utmost flexibility, scalability, functionality, speed, and reliability. Many of the systems currently in situ are not likely to be able to manage this additional workload in the most efficient way possible. This is exactly where MPEG-4 comes in. While MPEG-2 is currently regarded as the de facto video coding standard in digital broadcasting, MPEG-4 offers improved coding efficiency resulting in higher quality, particularly at low bit rates, of coded video and audio. With utilization spread across low, intermediate, and high bitrates, MPEG-4 offers a significant advantage compared to other video standards, enabling encoded data to be accessible over a wide range of media in various qualities. MPEG-4 is an extremely interesting format due to its coverage of many types of applications and wide ranges of resolutions, qualities, bit rates, and services. In addition, taking the latest developments into consideration, MPEG-4 will eventually succeed MPEG-2 as the dominant broadcast format.
With this diversity of usage, MPEG-4 can definitely help broadcasters satisfy their requirement for a coherent media asset- management solution and, at the same time, serve as the ideal format for their content delivery and storage. All of this combined offers a great potential to increase the value and return on investment of the...
