Is MPEG-4 addressing broadcast, network based, or file based playback?
MPEG-4 Systems, and the entire MPEG-4 specification, was developed to accommodate broadcast, interactive network as well as mass storage based playback scenarios. This is achieved by : • Abstracting the specifics of the various delivery mechanisms from the representation of the interactive audio-visual information by providing a consistent architecture (the Elementary Stream Management framework) and set of interfaces (DMIF) for accessing the multimedia content. It is therefore possible to use MPEG-4 content in broadcast mode (ex: transmitted along traditionnal MPEG-2 content), in interactive network mode (ex: throught IP/UDP/RTP transport) as well as locally (ex: using a hard disk, CD-ROM or a DVD). • Developing multimedia content information representation that allows the creation of rich audiovisual experiences in the various delivery mechanism. The overall walkthrough for consuming such content is always the same : the sender, either distant or local transmits streams containing co
