Coded representation of multimedia and hypermedia information objects: Towards the MHEG standard

摘要

This paper aims to present the current work achieved by a joint CCITT (SGVIII/Q9)-ISO-IEC/JTC1/SC29/WG12 group (in short: MHEG, for Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group). This expert group has the mandate to define a generic standard for multimedia and hypermedia information objects especially intended for real time interchange. The scope of this standard is first explained, along with some examples of the field of application. Then an overview of the different object classes is provided, followed by the description of methodology and coding principles which are used in MHEG. Lastly, a detailed presentation of synchronized multimedia objects shows how the concept of space and time relations between objects lead to composite objects definition, considered as units of information to be used, exchanged or manipulated by applications. This latter idea introduces some considerations about AVIs (Audiovisual Interactive Scriptware), which are also dealt with by MHEG.