Fundamentals and Evolution of MPEG-2 Systems: Paving the MPEG Road

Foreword

Why do we need a book on MPEG Systems? The MPEG-2 Systems standard has been around since 1994 and is already widely deployed. Surely everyone who needs to know about it already know enough? Has it not been covered elsewhere? And is it not just a syntax of packets and time stamps? In fact, MPEG-2 Systems – the standard and designs that implement it – is significantly more involved than it first appears and there is widespread misunderstanding of some key aspects. Just as importantly, the theory, history, practice and applications are quite interesting, as this book shows. Jan van der Meer's book Fundamentals and Evolution of MPEG-2 Systems is the first to comprehensively and correctly explain what the MPEG-2 Systems standard is, how it works, why it works the way it does, how it relates to key video and audio standards, and the information you need to know in order to ensure that systems based on the standard perform robustly as expected. It also includes some interesting bits of history of the standard, including humorous anecdotes.

The MPEG-2 Systems standard, despite being nearly 20 years old, has succeeded wildly, with major growth in applications occurring particularly since 2000. Data from IHS quoted in the book shows that, for example, in 2014 alone over 600 million DTVs, set top boxes, BluRay and DVD disc players using MPEG-2 Systems are expected to be shipped, and that does not include the vast numbers of tablets, phones and PCs that also support MPEG-2 Systems ...