This book completely revises the earlier book entitled MPEG-2. It is an interesting insight into the rate at which this
technology progresses that this book was in preparation only a year after MPEG-2 was first published. The impetus
for the revision is, of course, MPEG-4 which is comprehensively covered here. The opportunity has also been
taken to improve a number of explanations and to add a chapter on applications of MPEG.
The approach of the book has not changed in the slightest. Compression is a specialist subject with its own library
of specialist terminology which is generally accompanied by a substantial amount of mathematics. I have always
argued that mathematics is only a form of shorthand, itself a compression technique! Mathematics describes but
does not explain, whereas this book explains and then describes.
A chapter of fundamentals is included to make the main chapters easier to follow. Also included are some
guidelines which have been found practically useful in getting the best out of compression systems.
The reader who has endured this book will be in a good position to tackle the MPEG standards documents
themselves, although these are not for the faint-hearted, especially the MPEG-4 documents which are huge and
impenetrable.