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

Acknowledgements

The person who made MPEG happen is Leonardo Chiariglione; he was the driving force behind its establishment and he remained the driving force. Leonardo is the only person who attended all MPEG meetings, totalling more than 100. He speaks many languages, including Japanese, and has an amazing capability to move MPEG experts forward in the right direction. The vision and perseverance of Leonardo made MPEG a team that has now worked for more than 25 years on standards for digital audio and video, or in more general terms, for digital media. Thousands of experts from over 25 countries and more than 300 companies participated in the joint effort to consolidate the results of company research in MPEG standards. This collaboration proved extremely efficient and productive, which applies from the perspective of the television and movie industry in particular for the standards for digital video and audio. The dedication of Leonardo Chiariglione to MPEG brought major benefits to the audio-visual industry and deserves the highest respect from everyone with a stake in digital video and audio.

MPEG-2 systems became reality through a joint effort of many excellent experts from industries all over the world, working together to create the best possible standard. When for example major company interests were involved, the discussions became sometimes heated, but were always driven by technology and remained thereby productive, with a remarkably high group comradeship. All participants ...