MPEG4 playback considerations

MPEG4 Playback Considerations

MPEG4 is a video compression format used primarily for compression of streaming media that is transmitted over the Internet. It achieves good image quality with very low filesizes, which is very important for streaming applications.

It is important to understand that MPEG4 playback is not a standard part of the Windows Media Player or any Windows systems. There are no freely available MPEG4 decoders that you can redistribute with your application at this time, and there is an issue surrounding possible payment of royalties for distribution of MPEG4 encoded content in multimedia projects that may or may not apply to your country. For more information about legal issues please consult MPEG-LA 's web site. MPEG-LA is the institution that administers the MPEG4 patent portfolio. Some related links are reproduced below:

MPEG-LA

MPEG4 patent issue in Europe

MPEG4 Visual Patent Q&A

Given these issues we recommend using MPEG4 only for limited distribution, like a sales presentation or a kyosk application. In these cases it should be possible to install a clean version of the system with a decoder that operates correctly. You can use a trial version of the decoder (www.ligos.com offers one) and Mpeg Advance Xtra to make sure there are no issues with the playback before settling on one specific solution.

On the Macintosh platform MPEG4 playback is handled automatically by Quicktime 6 and later. The status of royalty payments is not clear at this time. Apple is a member of MPEG-LA. More information at

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2002/feb/12qt6.html

It is important to notice that a Windows machine with Quicktime 6 installed will also be able to play MPEG4 files via the Quicktime Xtra bundled with Director, without using Mpeg Advance Xtra. This is probably a good solution if your title absolutely requires MPEG4 playback, since you can redistribute Quicktime 6 freely with your CD. Given the current status of MPEG4 licensing it may be wise to use Quicktime movies with MPEG4 tracks instead of pure MPEG4 streams, and rely on Quicktime's hability to play these files after installation on the target machine.

As a general rule a developer should probably only use MPEG4 with Mpeg Advance Xtra only if the source format is already compressed for MPEG4, and the distribution is limited and relatively under control. If you need to use MPEG4 for larger distributions then consider requiring the installation of Quicktime 6, and using the Quicktime Xtra to import Quicktime video files with MPEG4 compression at this time.

We believe MPEG1 is a better solution for CD-ROM content at this time, due to lower system requirements and no issues with possible royalty payments in the future. MPEG4 achieves better compression (smaller filesize) at the expense of additional cpu power required for playback. Older machines will not play an MPEG4 as smoothly as an MPEG1, and your Director movie will not be as responsive playing an MPEG4 file compared with an MPEG1 video. MPEG1 image quality can be as good as MPEG4 depending on the tools used to compress the file, and MPEG1 compressors are generally more mature and tested at this time.