What is the full form of MPEG

MPEG: Moving Picture Experts Group

MPEG stands for Moving Picture Experts Group. It is a working group of authorities which is established to set standards for audio and video compression and transmission. It develops audio video file formats which are known as MPEG. This group is formed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It has released various versions of file (standards) namely MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-3, MPEG-4, MPEG-7, MPEG-21 etc.

The MPEG standard is a set of specification for compressed audio and video file. It is designed for storing video on Digital Audio Tapes (DAT) and audio files on standard audio Compact Disc (CD). The MPEG file has ".mpeg" as a file extension. In the past, the MPEG files required hardware decoder for storing and playback but today, it requires software-only codecs.

MPEG was established in January 1988 by the initiative and help of Leonardo Chiariglione and Hiroshi Yasuda. Its first meeting was held in Ottawa, Canada in May 1988. Since, 1988, it has produced various standards that helped industry offer users more enjoyable digital media experience. Over the years, since its inception, it has grown to a large ISO working group. Today, around 350 experts from some 200 companies from more than 20 countries take part in MPEG meetings. Its meetings are held four times in a year in the months of January, April, July and October.

How Does MPEG WORK?

The MPEG algorithm compresses the data to small bits. These bits can be easily transmitted and decompressed and then the video is encoded through a technique called Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). The compression rate of MPEG is very high as it stores only the changes that occur from one frame to another frame. It does not store the complete frame that allows it reduce the size of overall file.

MPEG generally follows the following steps to develop a standard: