mpeg4 definition (was: potentially laughable question)

[bony]

What exaclty does a codec being mpeg-4 entail. I saw that xvid is an mpeg-4 codec, I'm not sure but I remember hearing the same for divx-5. Is wmv9 also mpeg-4?

[jggimi]

MPEG-4 is one of several standards from the Motion Picture Experts Group. Their website is currently http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/index.htm, the URL in the second quote below links to the same site.Established in 1988, the group has produced MPEG-1, the standard on which such products as Video CD and MP3 are based, MPEG-2, the standard on which such products as Digital Television set top boxes and DVD are based, MPEG-4, the standard for multimedia for the fixed and mobile web and MPEG-7, the standard for description and search of audio and visual content. Work on the new standard MPEG-21 "Multimedia Framework" has started in June 2000.MPEG-4 is an ISO/IEC standard developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), the committee that also developed the Emmy Award winning standards known as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. These standards made interactive video on CD-ROM, DVD and Digital Television possible. MPEG-4 is the result of another international effort involving hundreds of researchers and engineers from all over the world. MPEG-4, with formal as its ISO/IEC designation 'ISO/IEC 14496', was finalized in October 1998 and became an International Standard in the first months of 1999. The fully backward compatible extensions under the title of MPEG-4 Version 2 were frozen at the end of 1999, to acquire the formal International Standard Status early in 2000. Several extensions were added since and work on some specific work-items work is still in progress.
MPEG-4 builds on the proven success of three fields:

* Digital television;
* Interactive graphics applications (synthetic content);
* Interactive multimedia (World Wide Web, distribution of and access to content)

MPEG-4 provides the standardized technological elements enabling the integration of the production, distribution and content access paradigms of the three fields.

More information about MPEG-4 can be found at MPEG’s home page (case sensitive): http://mpeg.telecomitalialab.com This web page contains links to a wealth of information about MPEG, including much about MPEG-4, many publicly available documents, several lists of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ and links to other MPEG-4 web pages.

[killingspree]

hi bony,
as you might have forgotten, it is a forum rule (http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm) to use a descriptive title for your post. this time i changed the title for you, next time you post, pls use a 'correct' one.

for your question, i think jggimi has answered it as good as possible ;)

kr
steVe