MPEG - 7

MPEG - 7

MPEG-7, the Multimedia Content Description Interface, is part of a family of standards developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) - a working group (JTC1/SC29/WG11) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). MPEG are responsible for the development of standards for the coded representation of digital video and audio. While other MPEG standards (e.g., MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4) have focused on the coded representation of audio-visual content, MPEG-7 is primarily concerned with information about content, i.e., metadata.

MPEG-7 Description Schemes are defined using the MPEG Description Definition Language (DDL). Multimedia Description Schemes are unique in their modeling of audio-visual content directly at a number of levels including audio-visual signal structure, features, models and semantics.

The full set of Multimedia Description Schemes, which are related to each other through linking, form a data model or schema for audio-visual content description. At both the conceptual- and implementation-levels, the data model is based on an object-oriented model, which includes important relationship types such as generalization, association, aggregation and spatio-temporal composition. The description data generated by Description Schemes is expressed in XML.

The MPEG Description Definition Language (DDL) can be used to define and generate new Description Schemes. By using the object-oriented aspects of the Description Scheme model, it is possible to extend the Multimedia Description Schemes to develop application specific Description Schemes.

The standardization process requires that an initial proposal is made to MPEG for the specific Multimedia Description Scheme. The proposal should identify sufficient reason or evidence for needing the Description Scheme in a presentation made to the MPEG Multimedia Description Schemes (MDS) Group.

The review of the proposal by the MDS Group may result in the establishment of either a Validation experiment (VE) or Core experiment (CE) in order to better study the Description Scheme.

If the Description Scheme successfully progresses to the MPEG-7 Experimental Model (XM) or the MPEG-7 Working Draft (WD), software will need to be provided by the proponents of the Description Scheme to allow its implementation.