1. Advanced Video Coding

1.1 Positioning and features

After MPEG-1 (used in particular for video on CDs), MPEG-2 (used for TV broadcasting and DVD) and MPEG-4 Part 2 (used as the basis for the consumer codecs DivX and XviD), a new bitrate reduction system is gaining ground: MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding, referred to as MPEG-4 AVC in this document. Standardized in 2003 (ISO/IEC 14496-10), it is known by various names: MPEG-4 Part 10 (ISO/MPEG), H.264 (ITU-T), or H.264/AVC. It represents a major technological evolution of MPEG-4 Part 2 ([ ]-§ 2), improving the compression ratio while offering better display quality. MPEG-4 AVC offers a compression efficiency 2 to 3 times higher than MPEG-2, and 1.5 to 2 times higher than MPEG-4 Part 2.