The MPEG standards are an evolving set of standards for video and audio compression. MPEG 7 technology covers the most recent developments in multimedia search and retreival, designed to standardise the description of multimedia content supporting a wide range of applications including DVD, CD and HDTV.

Multimedia content description, search and retrieval is a rapidly expanding research area due to the increasing amount of audiovisual (AV) data available. The wealth of practical applications available and currently under development (for example, large scale multimedia search engines and AV broadcast servers) has lead to the development of processing tools to create the description of AV material or to support the identification or retrieval of AV documents. Written by experts in the field, this book has been designed as a unique tutorial in the new MPEG 7 standard covering content creation, content distribution and content consumption. At present there are no books documenting the available technologies in such a comprehensive way.

* Presents a comprehensive overview of the principles and concepts involved in the complete range of Audio Visual material indexing, metadata description, information retrieval and browsing

* Details the major processing tools used for indexing and retrieval of images and video sequences

* Individual chapters, written by experts who have contributed to the development of MPEG 7, provide clear explanations of the underlying tools and technologies contributing to the standard

* Demostration software offering step-by-step guidance to the multi-media system components and eXperimentation model (XM) MPEG reference software

* Coincides with the release of the ISO standard in late 2001.

A valuable reference resource for practising electronic and communications engineers designing and implementing MPEG 7 compliant systems, as well as for researchers and students working with multimedia database technology.

MPEG-7 technology is used for multimedia search and retrieval. This volume presents an overview of the major topics in the use of MPEG-7 in AV material indexing, metadata description, information retrieval, and browsing. Topics include systems architecture, description definition language, the binary format, the organization of MPEG-7 features, the use of visual and audio descriptors, and potential applications of the MPEG-7 technology and standards. The DVD contains additional reference documents, demonstrations, and software.
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The MPEG standards are an evolving set of standards for video and audio compression. This text concerns MPEG 7 technology which covers developments in multimedia search and retrieval.

"Introduction to MPEG-7": Ein unentbehrliches Nachschlagewerk für Elektronik- und Kommunikationsingenieure, die MPEG-7-kompatible Systeme entwerfen und implementieren wollen sowie für Forscher und Studenten, die sich mit Multimedia-Datenbanktechnologie beschäftigen! Prinzipien und Konzepte der Indizierung von audiovisuellem Material, Metadatenbeschreibung, Informationsabfrage und Browsing sind einige der angesprochenen Themen. Detailliert wird auf die wichtigsten Tools zur Indizierung und zum Abruf von Bildern und Videosequenzen eingegangen. Die mitgelieferte Demo-Software führt schrittweise in die Multimedia-Systemkomponenten ein.

The use of digital cameras, personal computers and the Internet has made producing and distributing multimedia content easier today than ever before. The new ISO/MPEG-7 standard enables navigation through this wealth of audio-visual content and is set to revolutionise multimedia technology. Introduction to MPEG-7 takes a systematic approach to the standard and provides a unique overview of the principles and concepts behind audio-visual indexing, metadata description, information retrieval and browsing.

Featuring:

* Practical guidance to the new ISO/MPEG-7 standard written by the experts who have actively participated in its development.

* Clear explanations of the standard's underlying tools, technologies and applications.

* Coverage ranging from the Description Definition Language and systems architecture through to low-level media descriptors.

* Comparisons of related multimedia description and indexing standards.

* Accompanying DVD featuring MPEG-7 reference software along with working demonstrations of the standard and its components.

Essential reading for engineers building MPEG-7 compliant systems, the tutorial approach provides an invaluable tool for developers within the multimedia industry and the research and development community. Graduate students and those new to the field will benefit from the overview of search and retrieval technology.

Contents of the DVD

Contributors

Preface

Section I Introduction

Introduction to MPEG-7:Mulitmedia Content Description Interface (L. Chiariglione)

Content, Goals and Procedures (F. Periera and R. Koenen)

Section II Systems

Systems Architecture (O. Avaro and P. Salembier)

Description Definition Language (J. Hunter and C. Seyrat)

Binary Format (J. Heuer, et al.)

Section III Description Schemes

Overview of Multimedia Description Schemes and Schema Tools (P. Salembier and J. Smith)

Basic Elements (T. Walker, et al.)

Description of a Single Multimedia Document (A. Benitez, et al.)

Navigation and Summarization (P. van Beek and J. Smith)

Content Organizaiton (J. Smith and A. Benitez)

User Interaction (P. van Beek, et al.)

Section IV Visual Descriptors

Overview of Visual Descriptors (B. Manjunath and T. Sikora)

Color Descriptors (J. Ohm, et al.)

Texture Descriptors (Y. Choi, et al.)

Shape Descriptors (M. Bober, et al.)

Motion Descriptors (S. Jeannin, et al.)

Section V Audio

Fundamentals of Audio Descriptions (A. Lindsay, et al.)

Spoken Content (J. Charlesworth and P. Garner)

Sound Classification and Similarity (M. Casey)

Section VI Applications

Search and Browsing (N. Day)

Mobile Applications (N. Day, et al.)

Index