The Moving Picture Experts Group

MPEG 117 - Geneva

Venue of MPEG 117 - Geneva
Date: 
Monday, 16 January 2017 to Friday, 20 January 2017
Venue: 
Centre International de Conférences de Genève
rue de Varembé 17
1211 Genève
Switzerland
Press release: 

MPEG issues Committee Draft of the Omnidirectional Media Application Format (OMAF)

Geneva, Switzerland – The 117th MPEG meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 16 – 20 January 2017

MPEG issues Committee Draft of the Omnidirectional Media Application Format (OMAF)

The understanding of the virtual reality (VR) potential is growing but the market fragmentation due to lack of appropriate standards on storage and delivery format for such content is becoming one of the strong concerns by the industry. Thus, MPEG has recently started a project referred to as Omnidirectional Media Application Format (OMAF). At the 117th MPEG meeting, the OMAF standard has reached the first milestone, Committee Draft (CD). It currently includes equi-rectangular projection as a projection format but it might include support of additional projection formats with a generalized extension mechanism during its further development. It includes signalling of necessary metadata for interoperable rendering of 360 degree monoscopic and stereoscopic audio-visual data, selection of audio-visual codecs for this application, and the technologies for storage of data in the ISO base media file format (ISOBMFF). The High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard has been chosen as video codec because of its superior compression efficiency and tiling capabilities and MPEG-H 3D audio has been chosen because of its capability of immersive audio representation. As the size of video is becoming a major bottleneck for VR applications and services, it includes technologies on arranging pixel data of video in numerous ways to improve compression efficiency. The standard will include technologies for the delivery of OMAF content with MPEG-DASH and MMT at a later stage. It is expected that the standard will become Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) by Q4 of 2017.

MPEG-H 3D Audio Verification Test Report

At the 117th MPEG meeting, WG11 made available the MPEG-H 3D Audio Verification Test Report. This reported on the results of four subjective listening tests that assessed the performance of the Low Complexity Profile of MPEG-H 3D Audio. The tests covered a range of bit rates and a range of “immersive audio” use cases (i.e., from 22.2 down to 2.0 channel presentations). Seven test sites participated in the tests with a total of 288 listeners.

Statistical analysis of the test data resulted in the following conclusions:

  • Test 1 measured performance for the “Ultra-HD Broadcast” use case, in which highly immersive audio material was coded at 768 kb/s and presented using 22.2 or 7.1+4H channel loudspeaker layouts. The test showed that at the bit rate of 768 kb/s, MPEG-H 3D Audio easily achieves “ITU-R High-Quality Emission” quality, as needed in broadcast applications.
  • Test 2 measured performance for the “HD Broadcast” or “A/V Streaming” use case, in which immersive audio material was coded at three bit rates: 512 kb/s, 384 kb/s and 256 kb/s and presented using 7.1+4H or 5.1+2H channel loudspeaker layouts. The test showed that for all bit rates, MPEG-H 3D Audio achieved a quality of “Excellent” on the MUSHRA subjective quality scale.
  • Test 3 measured performance for the “High Efficiency Broadcast” use case, in which audio material was coded at three bit rates, with specific bit rates depending on the number of channels in the material. Bitrates ranged from 256 kb/s (5.1+2H) to 48 kb/s (stereo). The test showed that for all bit rates, MPEG-H 3D Audio achieved a quality of “Excellent” on the MUSHRA subjective quality scale.
  • Test 4 measured performance for the “Mobile” use case, in which immersive audio material was coded at 384 kb/s, and presented via headphones. The MPEG-H 3D Audio FD binaural renderer was used to render a virtual, immersive audio sound stage for the headphone presentation. The test showed that at 384 kb/s, MPEG-H 3D Audio with binaural rendering achieved a quality of “Excellent” on the MUSHRA subjective quality scale.

MPEG-H 3D Audio is an audio coding standard developed to support coding audio as audio channels, audio objects, or Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA). MPEG-H 3D Audio can support up to 64 loudspeaker channels and 128 codec core channels, and provides solutions for loudness normalization and dynamic range control. The verification test shows that the requirements set forth in the 3D Audio Call for Proposals are fully met by the MPEG-H 3D Audio Low Complexity Profile.

MPEG Workshop on 5-Year Roadmap Successfully Held in Geneva

In a very well-attended workshop, industry representatives from Bitmovin, DVB, Orange, Sky Italia, and Technicolor shared their experience with immersive services, and informed MPEG about their views on how technology standards need to evolve to support future immersive services. MPEG took their feedback into consideration in an update of its 5-year standardization roadmap.

Call for Proposals (CfP) for Point Cloud Compression (PCC)

At its 117th meeting, MPEG issued a Call for Proposals (CfP) for Point Cloud Compression (PCC). This CfP seeks submissions of technologies for the coding of 3D point clouds with associated attributes such as colour and material properties. Point clouds have recently emerged as representations of the real world enabling more immersive forms of interaction and communication to better understand and navigate it. They are typically captured using various setups of multiple cameras, depth sensors, LiDAR scanners, etc., but can also be generated synthetically. Targeted applications include immersive real-time communication, six Degrees of Freedom (6 DoF) virtual reality, dynamic mapping for autonomous driving, and cultural heritage applications.

Preliminary Call for Evidence on video compression with capability beyond HEVC

A preliminary “Call for Evidence on video compression with capability beyond HEVC” was issued at the 117th MPEG meeting. This call will be made jointly with ITU-T SG16/Q6 (VCEG). It is addressed to interested parties which are in possession of technology providing better compression capability than the existing standard, either for conventional video material, or for other domains such as HDR/WCG or 360-degrees (“VR”) video. As test cases, the call defines rate points and materials in all of these latter categories, anchors with HEVC encodings are also provided. Submissions are expected for the July 2017 meeting, where assessment will be made based on objective criteria (such as rate savings judged by PSNR quality) as well as subjective quality evaluation (experts viewing). The final version of the Call for Evidence is planned to be issued by the April meeting, where it is anticipated that encodings with the Joint Exploration Model (JEM) algorithm may be included as an additional reference point for comparison. The JEM is being developed by the Joint Video Exploration Team (JVET) of MPEG and VCEG, and is already known to provide bit rate reductions in the range of 20-30% for relevant test cases, as well as subjective quality benefits. Based on the outcome of the call, and promising evidence that potential technology exists, MPEG and VCEG may produce a formal Call for Proposals later in the year, with the intent to enter a more rigid standardization phase for the next generation of video compression standards beyond HEVC. A preliminary target date for completion of a new standard on the subject is late 2020.

MPEG issues Committee Draft of the Media Orchestration (MORE) Standard

At its 117th meeting, MPEG promoted its specification for “Media Orchestration” to Committee Draft. The specification supports the automated combination of multiple media sources (cameras, microphones) into a coherent multimedia experience. It also supports rendering a multimedia experience on multiple devices simultaneously, again giving a consistent and coherent experience. MPEG expects Media Orchestration to be especially useful in immersive media settings. The specification contains tools for orchestration in time (synchronization) and space.

Technical Report on HDR/WCG Video Coding

At the 117th MPEG meeting, the work was completed for producing a technical report on Conversion and Coding Practices for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) video coding (ISO/IEC 23008-14). HDR/WCG video provides users with a major improvement in perceptual realism, including the ability to show details in dark regions while also showing bright areas and specular highlights in the same scene. The purpose of this document is to provide a set of publicly referenceable recommended guidelines for the operation of AVC or HEVC systems adapted for compressing HDR/WCG video for consumer distribution applications. This document includes a description of processing steps for converting linear light, 4:4:4 RGB video signals into non-constant luminance (NCL) Y'CbCr video signals that use the Perceptual Quantizer (PQ) transfer function defined in SMPTE ST 2084 and Rec. ITU-R BT.2100. Although the focus of this document is primarily on 4:2:0 Y'CbCr 10 bit representations, these guidelines may also apply to other representations with higher bit depth or other colour formats, such as 4:4:4 Y'CbCr 12 bit video. Additionally, this document provides some high-level recommendations for compressing these signals using either the AVC or HEVC video coding standards.

How to contact MPEG, learn more, and find other MPEG facts

To learn about MPEG basics, discover how to participate in the committee, or find out more about the array of technologies developed or currently under development by MPEG, visit MPEG’s home page at http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/. There you will find information publicly available from MPEG experts past and present including tutorials, white papers, vision documents, and requirements under consideration for new standards efforts. You can also find useful information in many public documents by using the search window including publicly available output documents of each meeting (note: some may have editing periods and in case of questions please contact Dr. Christian Timmerer).

Examples of tutorials that can be found there include tutorials for: High Efficiency Video Coding, Advanced Audio Coding, Universal Speech and Audio Coding, and DASH to name a few. A rich repository of white papers can also be found and continues to grow. You can find these papers and tutorials for many of MPEG’s standards freely available. Press releases from previous MPEG meetings are also available. Journalists that wish to receive MPEG Press Releases by email should contact Dr. Christian Timmerer at christian.timmerer@itec.uni-klu.ac.at or christian.timmerer@bitmovin.com.

Further Information

Future MPEG meetings are planned as follows:

No. 118, Hobart, AU, 03 – 07 April, 2017

No. 119, Torino, IT, 17 – 21 July, 2017

No. 120, Macau, CN, 23 – 27 October 2017

No. 121, Gwangju, KR, 22 – 26 January 2018

No. 122, San Diego, US, 16 – 20 April 2018

 

For further information about MPEG, please contact:

Dr. Leonardo Chiariglione (Convenor of MPEG, Italy)

Via Borgionera, 103

I-10040 Villar Dora (TO), Italy

Tel: +39 011 935 04 61

leonardo@chiariglione.org

 

or

 

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christian Timmerer

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt | Bitmovin Inc.

9020 Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria, Europe

Tel: +43 463 2700 3621

Email: christian.timmerer@itec.aau.at | christian.timmerer@bitmovin.com

Press release file: 
Notice: 
Agenda: 
Call for patents: 
Liaisons: 
MPEG standards: 
MPEG workplan: 
MPEG timeline: 
Meeting notice: 

The 117th MPEG Meeting will take place from 16 to 20 January 2017 at

Centre International de Conférences de Genève (CICG)
rue de Varembé 17
CH - 1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland

Please note the following

  • Registration at http://itu.int/reg/tmisc/3000929
  • Members must pay 150 CHF cash as facilities fees at registration time (no electronic payment accepted)
  • Badge pick-up and on-site registration: although the meeting venue during 16-20/02/2017 is the CICG, badges will not be distributed there. Delegates must pick their badges at the Montbrillant building entrance of ITU (Rue de Varembé 2, about 100 metres from CICG).
  • The main meeting (16-20/01/2015) will be preceded by ad hoc group  meetings
  • The meetings of the JCT-VC and JVET will be held under the auspices of the ITU
  • There will be no badge delivery over the week end, but pre-registered delegates can get into the building if they have pre-registered on the ITU registration page and provide their passport to the security officer. Entrance during the weekend is only through the ITU Tower. Alternatively, delegates can get their badges on Friday 13 January 2017 afternoon, should they already be in Geneva.

Logistic Information

Location

The 115th MPEG meeting will take place in the CICG and ITU buildings all close to

17 rue de Varembé

CH - 1211 Geneva 20

Switzerland

Ad hoc meetings on the weekend 14-15 January 2017:

  • ITU buildings (see details below)

Host

The host for this meeting will be the International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). The ITU Headquarters are adjacent to the CICG and the IEC building, and have four entrances:

  • Montbrillant building (also used for badge collection and on-site registration)
    Rue de Varembé 2
  • Varembé building entrance (unmanned door only for badge holders)
  • ITU Tower entrance (the only one open during the weekend)
  • Av. Giuseppe Motta

Contact persons (from the host)

ITU-T Study Group 16 Secretariat
Tel : +41-22 730-5445
Fax : +41-22 730-5853
Email: tsbsg16@itu.int

Registration and meeting information

The pre-registration for the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11 meeting is .  

Badges will be available for the delegates who pre-registered at the reception of the Montbrillant building, Mon-Fri 0830-1200, 14:00-1700 hours. Updated meeting schedules will be displayed in the monitors found in the ITU and CICG premises, as well as  (RSS feed available).

Visa information

ITU as a host can, at the official request of the administration or entity you represent, approach the competent Swiss authorities in order to facilitate delivery of the visa but only within the period mentioned of six weeks before the date of beginning of the meeting. Any such request must specify the name and functions, date of birth, number, dates of issue and expiry of passport of the individual(s) for whom the visa(s) is/are requested (see example) and be accompanied by a copy of the notification of confirmation of registration approved for the ITU-T meeting in question, and must be sent to TSB by fax (+41 22 730 5853) or e-mail (tsbreg@itu.int bearing the words "Visa request (MPEG meeting)".

Hotel information

Delegates attending meetings hosted by ITU may benefit from special terms in a number of hotels in Geneva. There you will find a self-explanatory procedure to be followed for the reservation of hotels. A hotel confirmation form is available for download. 

ITU is not responsible for reservation confirmations, cancelled or charged reservations or no-shows. Please contact the hotel directly for all reservation matters, including for any changes to be made. Please make your own reservation by filling out the hotel registration form,

How to reach CICG and ITU

For all relevant information with regard to ITU and Geneva, please see this ITU web page

http://itu.int/SG-CP/info/togeneva.html#transport

There is a single airport in Geneva, which serves for both domestic and international flights and is close to ITU and Geneva downtown. 

Public transport in urban Geneva is quite good, so renting a car for those staying downtown may not be necessary. Hotels normally offer bus passes valid for the period of stay (without additional cost to their guests).

Weather

The temperature in January normally hovers 0 ºC.  

Electricity

The standard power supply is 220 Volts, 50Hz. Power plugs normally found are Swiss SEV 1011 and CEE 7/16. Adapters are found for sale in electronics stores, supermarkets and at the airport. 

Emergencies

Police: 117
Medical Emergencies: 144

Business Hours

Most government offices are open between 0830 – 1200 and 1330 – 1700 hours from Monday to Friday. Most stores are usually open from 0800 to 1845 hours. Saturdays, from 0800 to 1700 hours. General commerce is closed on Sundays. Shops at the airport are open until 2000 hours, inclusive on weekends and holidays. Convenience stores open all days, hours vary. 

Automated Teller Machines (ATM)

Travellers who carry internationally recognized credit cards (such as VISA and MasterCard) can get a cash advance in Geneva at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) installed at banks, airports, major hotels, department stores, subway stations and tourist attractions. 

Computer Networking

Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11a/g/n) facilities are available for use by delegates in the CICG conference rooms. Wired and wireless network access is available in the ITU Montbrillant building. Desktop computers and printers are available in the cybercafé area in the ITU Tower 2nd basement floor as well as in the Delegate Space of the ground floor in the Montbrillant building. Detailed information is available on the ITU-T website (http://itu.int/ITU-T/edh/faqs-support.html).

Standard documents published in MPEG 117 - Geneva

Standard: Exploration
# Part name Title Type Status
1 Transport and Storage of Genomic Information Updated database for Evaluation of Genomic Information Compression and Storage Document related to Part
1 IoMT Architecture Collection of IoMTW related ideas Document related to Part
1 IoMT Architecture Use cases for Internet of Media Things and Wearables Document related to Part
1 Transport and Storage of Genomic Information Use cases for an efficient genomic information representation Document related to Part
1 Transport and Storage of Genomic Information Benchmark framework for lossy compression of sequencing quality values Document related to Part
3 Versatile Video Coding N16702 Common Test Conditions and Evaluation Procedures for 360 Video Coding Document related to Part
3 Versatile Video Coding N16699 Algorithm descriptions of projection format conversion and video quality metrics in 360Lib Document related to Part
3 Versatile Video Coding N16697 Preliminary Joint Call for Evidence on Video Compression with Capability beyond HEVC Document related to Part
3 Versatile Video Coding N16701 JVET Common Test Conditions and Evaluation Procedures for HDR/WCG Video Coding Document related to Part
3 Versatile Video Coding N16700 Description of Exploration Experiments on coding tools Document related to Part
3 Versatile Video Coding N16698 Algorithm description of Joint Exploration Test Model 5 (JEM5) Document related to Part
7 Immersive Video MPEG-I visual test material summary Document related to Part
7 Immersive Video Depth map formats used within MPEG 3D technologies Document related to Part
15 Compact descriptors for video analysis N16695 CDVA Experimentation Model (CXM) 1.1 Document related to Part
15 Compact descriptors for video analysis N16696 Description of Core Experiments in CDVA Document related to Part
25 Network Distributed Media Coding Draft requirements for network distributed video coding Document related to Part
Standard: MPEG-I
# Part name Title Type Status
5 Point Cloud Compression Draft Test Conditions and Complementary Test material Document related to Part
5 Point Cloud Compression Call for Proposals for Point Cloud Compression Document related to Part
Standard: MPEG-H
# Part name Title Type Status
2 High Efficiency Video Coding N16688 Text of ISO/IEC 23008-2:201X/PDAM3 Additional supplemental enhancement information Document related to Part
3 3D Audio MPEG-H 3D Audio Verification Test Report Document related to Part
Standard: MPEG-C
# Part name Title Type Status
4 Video Tool Library N16681 Working Draft of ISO/IEC 23002-4:201X/Amd.1 VTL extensions for HEVC Main 10 Profile and parallel parser implementation Document related to Part
Standard: MPEG-4
# Part name Title Type Status
10 Advanced Video Coding N16675 Text of ISO/IEC 14496-10:201X/PDAM1 Additional supplemental enhancement information Document related to Part
33 Internet Video Coding N16704 IVC+ Test Model (ITM+) v 1.0 Document related to Part
33 Internet Video Coding N16705 Collection of information related to IVC+ technologies Document related to Part
33 Internet Video Coding N16703 Description of IVC+ exploration experiments Document related to Part