Category Archives: Standards

Introduction

The last plenary meeting of the Video Quality Experts Group (VQEG) was held online by the University of Konstantz (Germany) in December 18th to 21st, 2023. It offered the possibility to more than 100 registered participants from 19 different countries worldwide to attend the numerous presentations and discussions about topics related to the ongoing projects within VQEG. All the related information, minutes, and files from the meeting are available online in the VQEG meeting website, and video recordings of the meeting are soon available at Youtube.

All the topics mentioned below can be of interest for the SIGMM community working on quality assessment, but special attention can be devoted to the current activities on improvements of the statistical analysis of subjective experiments and objective metrics and on the development of a test plan to evaluate the QoE of immersive interactive communication systems in collaboration with ITU.

Readers of these columns interested in the ongoing projects of VQEG are encouraged to suscribe to the VQEG’s  email reflectors to follow the activities going on and to get involved with them.

As already announced in the VQEG website, the next VQEG plenary meeting be hosted by Universität Klagenfurt in Austria from July 1^st to 5th, 2024.

Overview of VQEG Projects

Audiovisual HD (AVHD)

The AVHD group works on developing and validating subjective and objective methods to analyze commonly available video systems. During the meeting, there were various sessions in which presentations related to these topics were discussed.

Firstly, Ali Ak (Nantes Université, France), provided an analysis of the relation between acceptance/annoyance and visual quality in a recently collected dataset of several User Generated Content (UGC) videos. Then, Syed Uddin (AGH University of Krakow, Poland) presented a video quality assessment method based on the quantization parameter of MPEG encoders (MPEG-4, MPEG-AVC, and MPEG-HEVC) leveraging VMAF. In addition, Sang Heon Le (LG Electronics, Korea) presented a technique for pre-enhancement for video compression and applicable subjective quality metrics. Another talk was given by Alexander Raake (TU Ilmenau, Germany), who presented AVQBits, a versatile no-reference bitstream-based video quality model (based on the standardized ITU-T P.1204.3 model) that can be applied in several contexts such as video service monitoring, evaluation of video encoding quality, of gaming video QoE, and even of omnidirectional video quality. Also, Jingwen Zhu (Nantes Université, France) and Hadi Amirpour (University of Klagenfurt, Austria) described a study on the evaluation of the effectiveness of different video quality metrics in predicting the Satisfied User Ratio (SUR) in order to enhance the VMAF proxy to better capture content-specific characteristics. Andreas Pastor (Nantes Université, France) presented a method to predict the distortion perceived locally by human eyes in AV1-encoded videos using deep features, which can be easily integrated into video codecs as a pre-processing step before starting encoding.

In relation with standardization efforts, Mathias Wien (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) gave an overview on recent expert viewing tests that have been conducted within MPEG AG5 at the 143rd and 144th MPEG meetings. Also, Kamil Koniuch (AGH University of Krakow, Poland) presented a proposal to update the Survival Game task defined in the ITU-T Recommendation P.1301 on subjective quality evaluation of audio and audiovisual multiparty telemeetings, in order to improve its implementation and application to recent efforts such as the evaluation of immersive communication systems within the ITU-T P.IXC (see the paragraph related to the Immersive Media Group).

Quality Assessment for Health applications (QAH)

The QAH group is focused on the quality assessment of health applications. It addresses subjective evaluation, generation of datasets, development of objective metrics, and task-based approaches. Recently, the group has been working towards an ITU-T recommendation for the assessment of medical contents. On this topic, Meriem Outtas (INSA Rennes, France) led a discussion dealing with the edition of a draft of this recommendation. In addition, Lumi Xia (INSA Rennes, France) presented a study of task-based medical image quality assessment focusing on a use case of adrenal lesions.

Statistical Analysis Methods (SAM)

The group SAM investigates on analysis methods both for the results of subjective experiments and for objective quality models and metrics. This was one of the most active groups in this meeting, with several presentations on related topics.

On this topic, Krzystof Rusek (AGH University of Krakow, Poland) presented a Python package to estimate Generalized Score Distribution (GSD) parameters and showed how to use it to test the results obtained in subjective experiments. Andreas Pastor (Nantes Université, France) presented a comparison between two subjective studies using Absolute Category Rating with Hidden Reference (ACR-HR) and Degradation Category Rating (DCR), conducted in a controlled laboratory environment on SDR HD, UHD, and HDR UHD contents using naive observers. The goal of these tests is to estimate rate-distortion savings between two modern video codecs and compare the precision and accuracy of both subjective methods. He also presented another study on the comparison of conditions for omnidirectional video with spatial audio in terms of subjective quality and impacts on objective metrics resolving power.

In addition, Lukas Krasula (Netflix, USA) introduced e2nest, a web-based platform to conduct media-centric (video, audio, and images) subjective tests. Also, Dietmar Saupe (University of Konstanz, Germany) and Simon Del Pin (NTNU, Norway) showed the results of a study analyzing the national difference in image quality assessment, showing significant differences in various areas. Alexander Raake (TU Ilmenau, Germany) presented a study on the remote testing of high resolution images and videos, using AVrate Voyager , which is a publicly accessible framework for online tests. Finally, Dominik Keller (TU Ilmenau, Germany) presented a recent study exploring the impact of 8K (UHD-2) resolution on HDR video quality, considering different viewing distances. The results showed that the enhanced video quality of 8K HDR over 4K HDR diminishes with increasing viewing distance.

No Reference Metrics (NORM)

The group NORM addresses a collaborative effort to develop no-reference metrics for monitoring visual service quality. In At this meeting, Ioannis Katsavounidis (Meta, USA) led a discussion on the current efforts to improve complexity image and video metrics. In addition, Krishna Srikar Durbha (Univeristy of Texas at Austin, USA) presented a technique to tackle the problem of bitrate ladder construction based on multiple Visual Information Fidelity (VIF) feature sets extracted from different scales and subbands of a video

Emerging Technologies Group (ETG)

The ETG group focuses on various aspects of multimedia that, although they are not necessarily directly related to “video quality”, can indirectly impact the work carried out within VQEG and are not addressed by any of the existing VQEG groups. In particular, this group aims to provide a common platform for people to gather together and discuss new emerging topics, possible collaborations in the form of joint survey papers, funding proposals, etc.

In this meeting, Nabajeet Barman and Saman Zadtootaghaj (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Germany), suggested a topic to start to be discussed within VQEG: Quality Assessment of AI Generated/Modified Content. The goal is to have subsequent discussions on this topic within the group and write a position or whitepaper.

Joint Effort Group (JEG) – Hybrid

The group JEG addresses several areas of Video Quality Assessment (VQA), such as the creation of a large dataset for training such models using full-reference metrics instead of subjective metrics. In addition, the group includes the VQEG project Implementer’s Guide for Video Quality Metrics (IGVQM). At the meeting, Enrico Masala (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) provided  updates on the activities of the group and on IGVQM.

Apart from this, there were three presentations addressing related topics in this meeting, delivered by Lohic Fotio Tiotsop (Politecnico di Torino, Italy). The first presentation focused on quality estimation in subjective experiments and the identification of peculiar subject behaviors, introducing a robust approach for estimating subjective quality from noisy ratings, and a novel subject scoring model that enables highlighting several peculiar behaviors. Also, he introduced a non-parametric perspective to address the media quality recovery problem, without making any a priori assumption on the subjects’ scoring behavior. Finally, he presented an approach called “human-in-the-loop training process” that uses  multiple cycles of a human voting, DNN training, and inference procedure.

Immersive Media Group (IMG)

The IMG group is performing research on the quality assessment of immersive media technologies. Currently, the main joint activity of the group is the development of a test plan to evaluate the QoE of immersive interactive communication systems, which is carried out in collaboration with ITU-T through the work item P.IXC. In this meeting, Pablo Pérez (Nokia XR Lab, Spain), Jesús Gutiérrez (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain), Kamil Koniuch (AGH University of Krakow, Poland), Ashutosh Singla (CWI, The Netherlands) and other researchers involved in the test plan provided an update on the status of the test plan, focusing on the description of four interactive tasks to be performed in the test, the considered measures, and the 13 different experiments that will be carried out in the labs involved in the test plan. Also, in relation with this test plan, Felix Immohr (TU Ilmenau, Germany), presented a study on the impact of spatial audio on social presence and user behavior in multi-modal VR communications.

Quality Assessment for Computer Vision Applications (QACoViA)

The group QACoViA addresses the study the visual quality requirements for computer vision methods, where the final user is an algorithm. In this meeting, Mikołaj Leszczuk (AGH University of Krakow, Poland) and  Jingwen Zhu (Nantes Université, France) presented a specialized data set developed for enhancing Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) systems. In addition, Hanene Brachemi (IETR-INSA Rennes, France), presented an study on evaluating the vulnerability of deep learning-based image quality assessment methods to adversarial attacks. Finally, Alban Marie (IETR-INSA Rennes, France) delivered a talk on the exploration of lossy image coding trade-off between rate, machine perception and quality.

5G Key Performance Indicators (5GKPI)

The 5GKPI group studies relationship between key performance indicators of new 5G networks and QoE of video services on top of them. At the meeting, Pablo Pérez (Nokia XR Lab, Spain) led an open discussion on the future activities of the group towards 6G, including a brief presentation of QoS/QoE management in 3GPP and presenting potential opportunities to influence QoE in 6G.

The 146th MPEG meeting was held in Rennes, France from 22-26 April 2024, and the official press release can be found here. It comprises the following highlights:

• AI-based Point Cloud Coding*: Call for proposals focusing on AI-driven point cloud encoding for applications such as immersive experiences and autonomous driving.
• Object Wave Compression*: Call for interest in object wave compression for enhancing computer holography transmission.
• Open Font Format: Committee Draft of the fifth edition, overcoming previous limitations like the 64K glyph encoding constraint.
• Scene Description: Ratified second edition, integrating immersive media objects and extending support for various data types.
• MPEG Immersive Video (MIV): New features in the second edition, enhancing the compression of immersive video content.
• Video Coding Standards: New editions of AVC, HEVC, and Video CICP, incorporating additional SEI messages and extended multiview profiles.
• Machine-Optimized Video Compression*: Advancement in optimizing video encoders for machine analysis.
• MPEG-I Immersive Audio*: Reached Committee Draft stage, supporting high-quality, real-time interactive audio rendering for VR/AR/MR.
• Video-based Dynamic Mesh Coding (V-DMC)*: Committee Draft status for efficiently storing and transmitting dynamic 3D content.
• LiDAR Coding*: Enhanced efficiency and responsiveness in LiDAR data processing with the new standard reaching Committee Draft status.

* … covered in this column.

AI-based Point Cloud Coding

MPEG issued a Call for Proposals (CfP) on AI-based point cloud coding technologies as a result from ongoing explorations regarding use cases, requirements, and the capabilities of AI-driven point cloud encoding, particularly for dynamic point clouds.

With recent significant progress in AI-based point cloud compression technologies, MPEG is keen on studying and adopting AI methodologies. MPEG is specifically looking for learning-based codecs capable of handling a broad spectrum of dynamic point clouds, which are crucial for applications ranging from immersive experiences to autonomous driving and navigation. As the field evolves rapidly, MPEG expects to receive multiple innovative proposals. These may include a unified codec, capable of addressing multiple types of point clouds, or specialized codecs tailored to meet specific requirements, contingent upon demonstrating clear advantages. MPEG has therefore publicly called for submissions of AI-based point cloud codecs, aimed at deepening the understanding of the various options available and their respective impacts. Submissions that meet the requirements outlined in the call will be invited to provide source code for further analysis, potentially laying the groundwork for a new standard in AI-based point cloud coding. MPEG welcomes all relevant contributions and looks forward to evaluating the responses.

Research aspects: In-depth analysis of algorithms, techniques, and methodologies, including a comparative study of various AI-driven point cloud compression techniques to identify the most effective approaches. Other aspects include creating or improving learning-based codecs that can handle dynamic point clouds as well as metrics for evaluating the performance of these codecs in terms of compression efficiency, reconstruction quality, computational complexity, and scalability. Finally, the assessment of how improved point cloud compression can enhance user experiences would be worthwhile to consider here also.

Object Wave Compression

A Call for Interest (CfI) in object wave compression has been issued by MPEG. Computer holography, a 3D display technology, utilizes a digital fringe pattern called a computer-generated hologram (CGH) to reconstruct 3D images from input 3D models. Holographic near-eye displays (HNEDs) reduce the need for extensive pixel counts due to their wearable design, positioning the display near the eye. This positions HNEDs as frontrunners for the early commercialization of computer holography, with significant research underway for product development. Innovative approaches facilitate the transmission of object wave data, crucial for CGH calculations, over networks. Object wave transmission offers several advantages, including independent treatment from playback device optics, lower computational complexity, and compatibility with video coding technology. These advancements open doors for diverse applications, ranging from entertainment experiences to real- time two-way spatial transmissions, revolutionizing fields such as remote surgery and virtual collaboration. As MPEG explores object wave compression for computer holography transmission, a Call for Interest seeks contributions to address market needs in this field.

Research aspects: Apart from compression efficiency, lower computation complexity, and compatibility with video coding technology, there is a range of research aspects, including the design, implementation, and evaluation of coding algorithms within the scope of this CfI. The QoE of computer-generated holograms (CGHs) together with holographic near-eye displays (HNEDs) is yet another dimension to be explored.

Machine-Optimized Video Compression

MPEG started working on a technical report regarding to the “Optimization of Encoders and Receiving Systems for Machine Analysis of Coded Video Content”. In recent years, the efficacy of machine learning-based algorithms in video content analysis has steadily improved. However, an encoder designed for human consumption does not always produce compressed video conducive to effective machine analysis. This challenge lies not in the compression standard but in optimizing the encoder or receiving system. The forthcoming technical report addresses this gap by showcasing technologies and methods that optimize encoders or receiving systems to enhance machine analysis performance.

Research aspects: Video (and audio) coding for machines has been recently addressed by MPEG Video and Audio working groups, respectively. MPEG Joint Video Experts Team with ITU-T SG16, also known as JVET, joined this space with a technical report, but research aspects remain unchanged, i.e., coding efficiency, metrics, and quality aspects for machine analysis of compressed/coded video content.

MPEG-I Immersive Audio

MPEG Audio Coding is entering the “immersive space” with MPEG-I immersive audio and its corresponding reference software. The MPEG-I immersive audio standard sets a new benchmark for compact and lifelike audio representation in virtual and physical spaces, catering to Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) applications. By enabling high-quality, real-time interactive rendering of audio content with six degrees of freedom (6DoF), users can experience immersion, freely exploring 3D environments while enjoying dynamic audio. Designed in accordance with MPEG’s rigorous standards, MPEG-I immersive audio ensures efficient distribution across bandwidth-constrained networks without compromising on quality. Unlike proprietary frameworks, this standard prioritizes interoperability, stability, and versatility, supporting both streaming and downloadable content while seamlessly integrating with MPEG-H 3D audio compression. MPEG-I’s comprehensive modeling of real-world acoustic effects, including sound source properties and environmental characteristics, guarantees an authentic auditory experience. Moreover, its efficient rendering algorithms balance computational complexity with accuracy, empowering users to finely tune scene characteristics for desired outcomes.

Research aspects: Evaluating QoE of MPEG-I immersive audio-enabled environments as well as the efficient audio distribution across bandwidth-constrained networks without compromising on audio quality are two important research aspects to be addressed by the research community.

Video-based Dynamic Mesh Coding (V-DMC)

Video-based Dynamic Mesh Compression (V-DMC) represents a significant advancement in 3D content compression, catering to the ever-increasing complexity of dynamic meshes used across various applications, including real-time communications, storage, free-viewpoint video, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). The standard addresses the challenges associated with dynamic meshes that exhibit time-varying connectivity and attribute maps, which were not sufficiently supported by previous standards. Video-based Dynamic Mesh Compression promises to revolutionize how dynamic 3D content is stored and transmitted, allowing more efficient and realistic interactions with 3D content globally.

Research aspects: V-DMC aims to allow “more efficient and realistic interactions with 3D content”, which are subject to research, i.e., compression efficiency vs. QoE in constrained networked environments.

Low Latency, Low Complexity LiDAR Coding

Low Latency, Low Complexity LiDAR Coding underscores MPEG’s commitment to advancing coding technologies required by modern LiDAR applications across diverse sectors. The new standard addresses critical needs in the processing and compression of LiDAR-acquired point clouds, which are integral to applications ranging from automated driving to smart city management. It provides an optimized solution for scenarios requiring high efficiency in both compression and real-time delivery, responding to the increasingly complex demands of LiDAR data handling. LiDAR technology has become essential for various applications that require detailed environmental scanning, from autonomous vehicles navigating roads to robots mapping indoor spaces. The Low Latency, Low Complexity LiDAR Coding standard will facilitate a new level of efficiency and responsiveness in LiDAR data processing, which is critical for the real-time decision-making capabilities needed in these applications. This standard builds on comprehensive analysis and industry feedback to address specific challenges such as noise reduction, temporal data redundancy, and the need for region-based quality of compression. The standard also emphasizes the importance of low latency coding to support real-time applications, essential for operational safety and efficiency in dynamic environments.

Research aspects: This standard effectively tackles the challenge of balancing high compression efficiency with real-time capabilities, addressing these often conflicting goals. Researchers may carefully consider these aspects and make meaningful contributions.

The 147th MPEG meeting will be held in Sapporo, Japan, from July 15-19, 2024. Click here for more information about MPEG meetings and their developments.

JPEG Trust reaches Draft International Standard stage

The 102nd JPEG meeting was held in San Francisco, California, USA, from 22 to 26 January 2024. At this meeting, JPEG Trust became a Draft International Standard. Moreover, the responses to the Call for Proposals of JPEG NFT were received and analysed. As a consequence, relevant steps were taken towards the definition of standardized tools for certification of the provenance and authenticity of media content in a time where tools for effective media manipulation should be made available to the general public. The 102nd JPEG meeting was finalised with the JPEG Emerging Technologies Workshop, at Tencent, Palo Alto on 27 January.

The following sections summarize the main highlights of the 102nd JPEG meeting:

• JPEG Trust reaches Draft International Standard stage;
• JPEG AI improves the Verification Model;
• JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding releases the Committee Draft;
• JPEG Pleno Light Field continues development of Quality assessment tools;
• AIC starts working on Objective Quality Assessment models for Near Visually Lossless coding;
• JPEG XE prepares Common Test Conditions;
• JPEG DNA evaluates its Verification Model;
• JPEG XS 3rd edition parts are ready for publication as International standards;
• JPEG XL investigate HDR compression performance.

JPEG Trust

At its 102nd meeting the JPEG Committee produced the DIS (Draft International Standard) of JPEG Trust Part 1 “Core Foundation” (21617-1). It is expected that the standard will be published as an International Standard during the Summer of 2024. This rapid standardization schedule has been necessary because of the speed at which fake media and misinformation are proliferating especially with respect to Generative AI.

The JPEG Trust Core Foundation specifies a comprehensive framework for individuals, organizations, and governing institutions interested in establishing an environment of trust for the media that they use, and for supporting trust in the media they share online. This framework addresses aspects of provenance, authenticity, integrity, copyright, and identification of assets and stakeholders. To complement Part 1, a proposed new Part 2 “Trust Profiles Catalogue” has been established. This new Part will specify a catalogue of Trust Profiles, targeting common usage scenarios.

During the meeting, the committee also evaluated responses received to the JPEG NFT Final Call for Proposals (CfP). Certain portions of the submissions will be incorporated in the JPEG Trust suite of standards to improve interoperability with respect to media tokenization. As a first step, the committee will focus on standardization of declarations of authorship and ownership.

Finally, the Use Cases and Requirements document for JPEG Trust was updated to incorporate additional requirements in respect of composited media. This document is publicly available on the JPEG website.

A white paper describing the JPEG Trust framework is also available publicly on the JPEG website.

JPEG AI

At the 102nd JPEG meeting, the JPEG AI Verification Model was improved by integrating nearly all the contributions adopted at the 101st JPEG meeting. The major change is a multi-branch JPEG AI decoding architecture with two encoders and three decoders (6 possible compatible combinations) that have been jointly trained, which allows the coverage of encoder and decoder complexity-efficiency tradeoffs. The entropy decoding and latent prediction portion is common for all possible combinations and thus differences reside at the analysis/synthesis networks. Moreover, the number of models has been reduced to 4, both 4:4:4 and 4:2:0 coding is supported, and JPEG AI can now achieve better rate-distortion performance in some relevant use cases. A new training dataset has also been adopted with difficult/high-contrast/versatile images to reduce the number of artifacts and to achieve better generalization and color reproducibility for a wide range of situations. Other enhancements have also been adopted, namely feature clipping for decoding artifacts reduction, improved variable bit-rate training strategy and post-synthesis transform filtering speedups.

The resulting performance and complexity characterization show compression efficiency (BD-rate) gains of 12.5% to 27.9% over the VVC Intra anchor, for relevant encoder and decoder configurations with a wide range of complexity-efficiency tradeoffs (7 to 216 kMAC/px at the decoder side). For the CPU platform, the decoder complexity is 1.6x/3.1x times higher compared to VVC Intra (reference implementation) for the simplest/base operating point. At the 102nd meeting, 12 core experiments were established to further continue work related to different topics, namely about the JPEG AI high-level syntax, progressive decoding, training dataset, hierarchical dependent tiling, spatial random access, to mention the most relevant. Finally, two demonstrations were shown where JPEG AI decoder implementations were run on two smartphone devices, Huawei Mate50 Pro and iPhone14 Pro.

JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding

The 102nd JPEG meeting marked an important milestone for JPEG Pleno Point Cloud with the release of its Committee Draft (CD) for ISO/IEC 21794-Part 6 “Learning-based point cloud coding” (21794-6). Part 6 of the JPEG Pleno framework brings an innovative Learning-based Point Cloud Coding technology adding value to existing Parts focused on Light field and Holography coding. It is expected that a Draft International Standard (DIS) of Part 6 will be approved at the 104th JPEG meeting in July 2024 and the International Standard to be published during 2025. The 102nd meeting also marked the release of version 4 of the JPEG Pleno Point Cloud Verification Model updated to be robust to different hardware and software operating environments.

JPEG Pleno Light Field

The JPEG Committee has recently published a light field coding standard, and JPEG Pleno is constantly exploring novel light field coding architectures. The JPEG Committee is also preparing standardization activities – among others – in the domains of objective and subjective quality assessment for light fields, improved light field coding modes, and learning-based light field coding.

As the JPEG Committee seeks continuous improvement of its use case and requirements specifications, it organized a Light Field Industry Workshop. The presentations and video recording of the workshop that took place on November 22nd, 2023 are available on the JPEG website.

JPEG AIC

During the 102nd JPEG meeting, work on Image Quality Assessment continued with a focus on JPEG AIC-3, targeting standardizing a subjective visual quality assessment methodology for images in the range from high to nearly visually lossless qualities. The activity is currently investigating three different subjective image quality assessment methodologies.

The JPEG Committee also launched the activities on Part 4 of the standard (AIC-4), by initiating work on the Draft Call for Proposals on Objective Image Quality Assessment. The Final Call for Proposals on Objective Image Quality Assessment is planned to be released in July 2024, while the submission of the proposals is planned for October 2024.

JPEG XE

The JPEG Committee continued its activity on JPEG XE and event-based vision. This activity revolves around a new and emerging image modality created by event-based visual sensors. JPEG XE is about the creation and development of a standard to represent events in an efficient way allowing interoperability between sensing, storage, and processing, targeting machine vision and other relevant applications. The JPEG Committee is preparing a Common Test Conditions document that provides the means to perform an evaluation of candidate technology for the efficient coding of event sequences. The Common Test Conditions provide a definition of a reference format, a dataset, a set of key performance metrics and an evaluation methodology. In addition, the committee is preparing a Draft Call for Proposals on lossless coding, with the intent to make it public in April of 2024. Standardization will first start with lossless coding of event sequences as this seems to have the higher application urgency in industry. However, the committee acknowledges that lossy coding of event sequences is also a valuable feature, which will be addressed at a later stage. The public Ad-hoc Group on Event-based Vision was reestablished to continue the work towards the next 103rd JPEG meeting in April of 2024. To stay informed about the activities please join the event based imaging Ad-hoc Group mailing list.

JPEG DNA

During the 102nd JPEG meeting, the JPEG DNA Verification Model description and software were approved along with continued efforts to evaluate its rate-distortion characteristics. Notably, during the 102nd meeting, a subjective quality assessment was carried out by expert viewing using a new approach under development in the framework of AIC-3. The robustness of the Verification Model to errors generated in a biochemical process was also analysed using a simple noise simulator. After meticulous analysis of the results, it was decided to create a number of core experiments to improve the Verification Model rate-distortion performance and the robustness to the errors by adding an error correction technique to the latter. In parallel, efforts are underway to improve the rate-distortion performance of the JPEG DNA Verification Model by exploring learning-based coding solutions. In addition, further efforts are defined to improve the noise simulator so as to allow assessment of the resilience to noise in the Verification Model in more realistic conditions, laying the groundwork for a JPEG DNA robust to insertion, deletion and substitution errors.

JPEG XS

The JPEG Committee is happy to announce that the core parts of JPEG XS 3rd edition are ready for publication as International standards. The Final Draft International Standard for Part 1 of the standard – Core coding tools – was created at the last meeting in November 2023, and is scheduled for publication. DIS ballot results for Part 2 – Profiles and buffer models – and Part 3 – Transport and container formats – of the standard came back, allowing the JPEG Committee to produce and deliver the proposed IS texts to ISO. This means that Part 2 and Part 3 3rd edition are also scheduled for publication.

At this meeting, the JPEG Committee continued the work on Part 4 – Conformance testing, to provide the necessary test streams of the 3rd edition for potential implementors. A Committee Draft for Part 4 was issued. With Parts 1, 2, and 3 now ready, and Part 4 ongoing, the JPEG Committee initiated the 3rd edition of Part 5 – Reference software. A first Working Draft was prepared and work on the reference software will start.

Finally, experimental results were presented on how to use JPEG XS over 5G mobile networks for the transmission of low-latency and high quality 4K/8K 360 degree views with mobile devices. This use case was added at the previous JPEG meeting. It is expected that the new use case can already be covered by the 3rd edition, meaning that no further updates to the standard would be necessary. However, investigations and experimentation on this subject continue.

JPEG XL

The second edition of JPEG XL Part 3 (Conformance testing) has proceeded to the DIS stage. Work on a hardware implementation continues. Experiments are planned to investigate HDR compression performance of JPEG XL.

“In its efforts to provide standardized solutions to ascertain authenticity and provenance of the visual information, the JPEG Committee has released the Draft international Standard of the JPEG Trust. JPEG Trust will bring trustworthiness back to imaging with specifications under the governance of the entire International community and stakeholders as opposed to a small number of companies or countries.” said Prof. Touradj Ebrahimi, the Convenor of the JPEG Committee.

JPEG Trust reaches Committee Draft stage at the 101^st JPEG meeting

The 101^st JPEG meeting was held online, from the 30th of October to the 3rd of November 2023. At this meeting, JPEG Trust became a Committee Draft. In addition, JPEG analyzed the responses to its Calls for Proposals for JPEG DNA.

The 101^st JPEG meeting had the following highlights:

• JPEG Trust reaches Committee Draft;
• JPEG AI request its re-establishment;
• JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding establishes a new Verification Model;
• JPEG Pleno organizes a Light Field Industry Workshop;
• JPEG AIC-3 continues the evaluation of contributions;
• JPEG XE produces a first draft of the Common Test Conditions;
• JPEG DNA analyses the responses to the Call for Proposals;
• JPEG XS proceeds with the development of the 3rd edition;
• JPEG XL proceeds with the development of the 2nd edition.

The following sections summarize the main highlights of the 101^st JPEG meeting.

JPEG Trust

The 101^st meeting marked an important milestone for JPEG Trust project with its Committee Draft (CD) for Part 1 “Core Foundation” (21617-1) of the standard approved for consultation. It is expected that a Draft International Standard (DIS) of the Core Foundation will be approved at the 102^nd JPEG meeting in January 2024, which will be another important milestone. This rapid schedule is necessitated by the speed at which fake media and misinformation are proliferating especially in respect of generative AI.

Aligned with JPEG Trust, the NFT Call for Proposals (CfP) has yielded two expressions of interest to date, and submission of proposals is still open till the 15th of January 2024.

Additionally, the Use Cases and Requirements document for JPEG Fake Media (the JPEG Fake Media exploration preceded the initiation of the JPEG Trust international standard) was updated to reflect the change to JPEG Trust as well as incorporate additional use cases that have arisen since the previous JPEG meeting, namely in respect of composited images. This document is publicly available on the JPEG website.

JPEG AI

At the 101^st meeting, the JPEG Committee issued a request for re-establishing the JPEG AI (6048-1) project, along with a Committee Draft (CD) of its version 1. A new JPEG AI timeline has also been approved and is now publicly available, where a Draft International Standard (DIS) of the Core Coding Engine of JPEG AI version 1 is foreseen at the 103^rd JPEG meeting (April 2024), a rather important milestone for JPEG AI. The JPEG Committee also established that JPEG AI version 2 will address requirements not yet fulfilled (especially regarding machine consumption tasks) but also significant improvements on requirements already addressed in version 1, e.g. compression efficiency. JPEG AI version 2 will issue the final Call for Proposals in January 2025 and the presentation and evaluation of JPEG AI version 2 proposals will occur in July 2025. During 2023, the JPEG AI Verification Model (VM) has evolved from a complex system (800kMAC/pxl) to two acceptable complexity-efficiency operation points, providing 11% compression efficiency gains at 20 kMAC/pxl and 25% compression efficiency gains at 200 kMAC/pxl. The decoder for the lower-end operating point has now been implemented on mobile devices and demonstrated during the 100^th and 101^st JPEG meetings. A presentation with the JPEG AI architecture, networks, and tools is now publicly available. To avoid project delays in the future, the promising input contributions from the 101^st meeting will be combined in JPEG AI Core Experiment 6.1 (CE6.1) to study interaction and resolve potential issues during the next meeting cycle. After this integration, a model will be trained and cross-checked to be approved for release (JPEG AI VM5 release candidate) along with the study DIS text. Among promising technologies included in CE6.1 are high quality and variable rate improvements, with a smaller number of models (from 5 to 4), a multi-branch decoder that allows up to three reconstructions with different levels of quality from the same latent representation, but with synthesis transform networks with different complexity along with several post-filter and arithmetic coder simplifications.

JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding

The JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding activity progressed at the 101^st meeting with a major investigation into point cloud quality metrics. The JPEG Committee decided to continue this investigation into point cloud quality metrics as well as explore possible advancements to the VM in the areas of parameter tuning and support for residual lossless coding. The JPEG Committee is targeting a release of the Committee Draft of Part 6 of the JPEG Pleno standard relating to Learning-based point cloud coding at the 102^nd JPEG meeting in San Francisco, USA in January 2024.

JPEG Pleno Light Field

The JPEG Committee has been creating several standards to provision the dynamic demands of the market, with its royalty-free patent licensing commitments. A light field coding standard has recently been developed, and JPEG Pleno is constantly exploring novel light field coding architectures.

The JPEG Committee is also preparing standardization activities – among others – in the domains of objective and subjective quality assessment for light fields, improved light field coding modes, and learning-based light field coding.

A Light Field Industry Workshop takes place on November 22^nd, 2023, aiming at providing a forum for industrial actors to exchange information on their needs and expectations with respect to standardization activities in this domain.

JPEG AIC

During the 101^st JPEG meeting, the AIC activity continued its efforts on the evaluation of the contributions received in April 2023 in response to the Call for Contributions on Subjective Image Quality Assessment. Notably, the activity is currently investigating three different subjective image quality assessment methodologies. The results of the newly established Core Experiments will be considered during the design of the AIC-3 standard, which has been carried out in a collaborative way since its beginning.

The AIC activity also initiated the discussion on Part 4 of the standard on Objective Image Quality Metrics (AIC-4) by refining the Use Cases and Requirements document. During the 102^nd JPEG meeting in January 2024, the activity is planning to work on the Draft Call for Proposals on Objective Image  

JPEG XE

The JPEG Committee continued its activity on Event-based Vision. This activity revolves around a new and emerging image modality created by event-based visual sensors. JPEG XE aims at the creation and development of a standard to represent events in an efficient way allowing interoperability between sensing, storage, and processing, targeting machine vision and other relevant applications. For better dissemination and raising external interest, a workshop around Event-based Vision was organized and took place on Oct 24^th, 2023. The workshop triggered the attention of various stakeholders in the field of Event-based Vision, who will start contributing to JPEG XE. The workshop proceedings will be made available on jpeg.org. In addition, the JPEG Committee created a minor revision for the Use cases and Requirements as v1.0, adding an extra use case on scientific and engineering measurements. Finally, a first draft of the Common Test Conditions for JPEG XE was produced, along with the first Exploration Experiments to start practical experiments in the coming 3-month period until the next JPEG meeting. The public Ad-hoc Group on Event-based Vision was re-established to continue the work towards the next 102^nd JPEG meeting in January of 2024. To stay informed about the activities please join the Event-based Vision Ad-hoc Group mailing list.

JPEG DNA

As a result of the Call for Proposals issued by the JPEG Committee for contributions to JPEG DNA standard, 5 proposals were submitted under three distinct codecs by three organizations. Two codecs were submitted to both coding and transcoding categories, and one was submitted to the coding category only. All proposals showed improved compression efficiency when compared to three selected anchors by the JPEG Committee. After a rigorous analysis of the proposals and their cross checking by independent parties, it was decided to create a first Verification Model (VM) based on V-DNA, the best performing proposal. In addition, a number of core experiments were designed to improve the JPEG DNA VM with elements from other proposals submitted by quantifying their added value when integrated in the VM.

JPEG XS

The JPEG Committee continued its work on JPEG XS 3^rd edition. The primary goal of the 3^rd edition is to deliver the same image quality as the 2^nd edition, but with half of the required bandwidth. The Final Draft International Standard for Part 1 of the standard — Core coding tools — was produced at this meeting. With this FDIS version, all technical features are now fixed and completed. Part 2 — Profiles and buffer models — and Part 3 — Transport and container formats — of the standard are still in DIS ballot, and ballot results will only be known by the end of January 2024. The JPEG Committee is now working on Part 4 — Conformance testing, to provide the necessary test streams of the 3^rd edition for potential implementors. A first Working Draft for Part 4 was issued. Completion of the JPEG XS 3^rd edition is scheduled for April 2024 (Parts 1, 2, and 3) and Parts 4 and 5 will follow shortly after that. Finally, the new Use cases and Requirements for JPEG XS document was created containing a new use case to use JPEG XS for transport of 4K/8K video over 5G mobile networks. It is expected that the new use case can already be covered by the 3rd edition, meaning that no further updates to the standard would be needed. However, more investigations and experimentations will be conducted on this subject.

JPEG XL

The second editions of JPEG XL Part 1 (Core coding system) and Part 2 (File format) have proceeded to the FDIS stage, and the second edition of JPEG XL Part 3 (Conformance testing) has proceeded to the CD stage. These second editions provide clarifications, corrections and editorial improvements that will facilitate independent implementations. At the same time, the development of hardware implementation solutions continues.

Final Quote

“The release of the first Committee Draft of JPEG Trust is a strong signal that the JPEG Committee is reacting with a timely response to demands for solutions that inform users when digital media assets are created or modified, in particular through Generative AI, hence contributing to bringing back trust into media-centric ecosystems.” said Prof. Touradj Ebrahimi, the Convenor of the JPEG Committee.

The 145th MPEG meeting was held online from 22-26 January 2024, and the official press release can be found here. It comprises the following highlights:

• Latest Edition of the High Efficiency Image Format Standard Unveils Cutting-Edge Features for Enhanced Image Decoding and Annotation
• MPEG Systems finalizes Standards supporting Interoperability Testing
• MPEG finalizes the Third Edition of MPEG-D Dynamic Range Control
• MPEG finalizes the Second Edition of MPEG-4 Audio Conformance
• MPEG Genomic Coding extended to support Transport and File Format for Genomic Annotations
• MPEG White Paper: Neural Network Coding (NNC) – Efficient Storage and Inference of Neural Networks for Multimedia Applications

This column will focus on the High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF) and interoperability testing. As usual, a brief update on MPEG-DASH et al. will be provided.

High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF)

The High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF) is a widely adopted standard in the imaging industry that continues to grow in popularity. At the 145th MPEG meeting, MPEG Systems (WG 3) ratified its third edition, which introduces exciting new features, such as progressive decoding capabilities that enhance image quality through a sequential, single-decoder instance process. With this enhancement, users can decode bitstreams in successive steps, with each phase delivering perceptible improvements in image quality compared to the preceding step. Additionally, the new edition introduces a sophisticated data structure that describes the spatial configuration of the camera and outlines the unique characteristics responsible for generating the image content. The update also includes innovative tools for annotating specific areas in diverse shapes, adding a layer of creativity and customization to image content manipulation. These annotation features cater to the diverse needs of users across various industries.

Research aspects: Progressive coding has been a part of modern image coding formats for some time now. However, the inclusion of supplementary metadata provides an opportunity to explore new use cases that can benefit both user experience (UX) and quality of experience (QoE) in academic settings.

Interoperability Testing

MPEG standards typically comprise format definitions (or specifications) to enable interoperability among products and services from different vendors. Interestingly, MPEG goes beyond these format specifications and provides reference software and conformance bitstreams, allowing conformance testing.

At the 145^th MPEG meeting, MPEG Systems (WG 3) finalized two standards comprising conformance and reference software by promoting it to the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS), the final stage of standards development. The finalized standards, ISO/IEC 23090-24 and ISO/IEC 23090-25, showcase the pinnacle of conformance and reference software for scene description and visual volumetric video-based coding data, respectively.

ISO/IEC 23090-24 focuses on conformance and reference software for scene description, providing a comprehensive reference implementation and bitstream tailored for conformance testing related to ISO/IEC 23090-14, scene description. This standard opens new avenues for advancements in scene depiction technologies, setting a new standard for conformance and software reference in this domain.

Similarly, ISO/IEC 23090-25 targets conformance and reference software for the carriage of visual volumetric video-based coding data. With a dedicated reference implementation and bitstream, this standard is poised to elevate the conformance testing standards for ISO/IEC 23090-10, the carriage of visual volumetric video-based coding data. The introduction of this standard is expected to have a transformative impact on the visualization of volumetric video data.

At the same 145^th MPEG meeting, MPEG Audio Coding (WG6) celebrated the completion of the second edition of ISO/IEC 14496-26, audio conformance, elevating it to the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) stage. This significant update incorporates seven corrigenda and five amendments into the initial edition, originally published in 2010.

ISO/IEC 14496-26 serves as a pivotal standard, providing a framework for designing tests to ensure the compliance of compressed data and decoders with the requirements outlined in ISO/IEC 14496-3 (MPEG-4 Audio). The second edition reflects an evolution of the original, addressing key updates and enhancements through diligent amendments and corrigenda. This latest edition, now at the FDIS stage, marks a notable stride in MPEG Audio Coding’s commitment to refining audio conformance standards and ensuring the seamless integration of compressed data within the MPEG-4 Audio framework.

These standards will be made freely accessible for download on the official ISO website, ensuring widespread availability for industry professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts alike.

Research aspects: Reference software and conformance bitstreams often serve as the basis for further research (and development) activities and, thus, are highly appreciated. For example, reference software of video coding formats (e.g., HM for HEVC, VM for VVC) can be used as a baseline when improving coding efficiency or other aspects of the coding format.

MPEG-DASH Updates

The current status of MPEG-DASH is shown in the figure below.

The following most notable aspects have been discussed at the 145th MPEG meeting and adopted into ISO/IEC 23009-1, which will eventually become the 6th edition of the MPEG-DASH standard:

• It is now possible to pass CMCD parameters sid and cid via the MPD URL.
• Segment duration patterns can be signaled using SegmentTimeline.
• Definition of a background mode of operation, which allows a DASH player to receive MPD updates and listen to events without possibly decrypting or rendering any media.

Additionally, the technologies under consideration (TuC) document has been updated with means to signal maximum segment rate, extend copyright license signaling, and improve haptics signaling in DASH. Finally, REAP is progressing towards FDIS but not yet there and most details will be discussed in the upcoming AhG period.

The 146th MPEG meeting will be held in Rennes, France, from April 22-26, 2024. Click here for more information about MPEG meetings and their developments.

The 144th MPEG meeting was held in Hannover, Germany! For those interested, the press release is available with all the details. It’s great to see progress being made in person (cf. also the group pictures below). The main outcome of this meeting is as follows:

• MPEG issues Call for Learning-Based Video Codecs for Study of Quality Assessment
• MPEG evaluates Call for Proposals on Feature Compression for Video Coding for Machines
• MPEG progresses ISOBMFF-related Standards for the Carriage of Network Abstraction Layer Video Data
• MPEG enhances the Support of Energy-Efficient Media Consumption
• MPEG ratifies the Support of Temporal Scalability for Geometry-based Point Cloud Compression
• MPEG reaches the First Milestone for the Interchange of 3D Graphics Formats
• MPEG announces Completion of Coding of Genomic Annotations

We have modified the press release to cater to the readers of ACM SIGMM Records and highlighted research on video technologies. This edition of the MPEG column focuses on MPEG Systems-related standards and visual quality assessment. As usual, the column will end with an update on MPEG-DASH.

Visual Quality Assessment

MPEG does not create standards in the visual quality assessment domain. However, it conducts visual quality assessments for its standards during various stages of the standardization process. For instance, it evaluates responses to call for proposals, conducts verification tests of its final standards, and so on. MPEG Visual Quality Assessment (AG 5) issued an open call to study quality assessment for learning-based video codecs. AG 5 has been conducting subjective quality evaluations for coded video content and studying their correlation with objective quality metrics. Most of these studies have focused on the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standards. To facilitate the study of visual quality, MPEG maintains the Compressed Video for the study of Quality Metrics (CVQM) dataset.

With the recent advancements in learning-based video compression algorithms, MPEG is now studying compression using these codecs. It is expected that reconstructed videos compressed using learning-based codecs will have different types of distortion compared to those induced by traditional block-based motion-compensated video coding designs. To gain a deeper understanding of these distortions and their impact on visual quality, MPEG has issued a public call related to learning-based video codecs. MPEG is open to inputs in response to the call and will invite responses that meet the call’s requirements to submit compressed bitstreams for further study of their subjective quality and potential inclusion into the CVQM dataset.

Considering the rapid advancements in the development of learning-based video compression algorithms, MPEG will keep this call open and anticipates future updates to the call.

Interested parties are kindly requested to contact the MPEG AG 5 Convenor Mathias Wien (wien@lfb.rwth- aachen.de) and submit responses for review at the 145th MPEG meeting in January 2024. Further details are given in the call, issued as AG 5 document N 104 and available from the mpeg.org website.

Research aspects: Learning-based data compression (e.g., for image, audio, video content) is a hot research topic. Research on this topic relies on datasets offering a set of common test sequences, sometimes also common test conditions, that are publicly available and allow for comparison across different schemes. MPEG’s Compressed Video for the study of Quality Metrics (CVQM) dataset is such a dataset, available here, and ready to be used also by researchers and scientists outside of MPEG. The call mentioned above is open for everyone inside/outside of MPEG and allows researchers to participate in international standards efforts (note: to attend meetings, one must become a delegate of a national body).

MPEG Systems-related Standards

At the 144th MPEG meeting, MPEG Systems (WG 3) produced three news-worthy items as follows:

• Progression of ISOBMFF-related standards for the carriage of Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) video data.
• Enhancement of the support of energy-efficient media consumption.
• Support of temporal scalability for geometry-based Point Cloud Compression (PPC).

ISO/IEC 14496-15, a part of the family of ISOBMFF-related standards, defines the carriage of Network Abstract Layer (NAL) unit structured video data such as Advanced Video Coding (AVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Versatile Video Coding (VVC), Essential Video Coding (EVC), and Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC). This standard has been further improved with the approval of the Final Draft Amendment (FDAM), which adds support for enhanced features such as Picture-in-Picture (PiP) use cases enabled by VVC.

In addition to the improvements made to ISO/IEC 14496-15, separately developed amendments have been consolidated in the 7th edition of the standard. This edition has been promoted to Final Draft International Standard (FDIS), marking the final milestone of the formal standard development.

Another important standard in development is the 2nd edition of ISO/IEC14496-32 (file format reference software and conformance). This standard, currently at the Committee Draft (CD) stage of development, is planned to be completed and reach the status of Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) by the beginning of 2025. This standard will be essential for industry professionals who require a reliable and standardized method of verifying the conformance of their implementation.

MPEG Systems (WG 3) also promoted ISO/IEC 23001-11 (energy-efficient media consumption (green metadata)) Amendment 1 to Final Draft Amendment (FDAM). This amendment introduces energy-efficient media consumption (green metadata) for Essential Video Coding (EVC) and defines metadata that enables a reduction in decoder power consumption. At the same time, ISO/IEC 23001-11 Amendment 2 has been promoted to the Committee Draft Amendment (CDAM) stage of development. This amendment introduces a novel way to carry metadata about display power reduction encoded as a video elementary stream interleaved with the video it describes. The amendment is expected to be completed and reach the status of Final Draft Amendment (FDAM) by the beginning of 2025.

Finally, MPEG Systems (WG 3) promoted ISO/IEC 23090-18 (carriage of geometry-based point cloud compression data) Amendment 1 to Final Draft Amendment (FDAM). This amendment enables the compression of a single elementary stream of point cloud data using ISO/IEC 23090-9 (geometry-based point cloud compression) and storing it in more than one track of ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF)-based files. This enables support for applications that require multiple frame rates within a single file and introduces a track grouping mechanism to indicate multiple tracks carrying a specific temporal layer of a single elementary stream separately.

Research aspects: MPEG Systems usually provides standards on top of existing compression standards, enabling efficient storage and delivery of media data (among others). Researchers may use these standards (including reference software and conformance bitstreams) to conduct research in the general area of multimedia systems (cf. ACM MMSys) or, specifically on green multimedia systems (cf. ACM GMSys).

MPEG-DASH Updates

The current status of MPEG-DASH is shown in the figure below with only minor updates compared to the last meeting.

In particular, the 6th edition of MPEG-DASH is scheduled for 2024 but may not include all amendments under development. An overview of existing amendments can be found in the column from the last meeting. Current amendments have been (slightly) updated and progressed toward completion in the upcoming meetings. The signaling of haptics in DASH has been discussed and accepted for inclusion in the Technologies under Consideration (TuC) document. The TuC document comprises candidate technologies for possible future amendments to the MPEG-DASH standard and is publicly available here.

Research aspects: MPEG-DASH has been heavily researched in the multimedia systems, quality, and communications research communities. Adding haptics to MPEG-DASH would provide another dimension worth considering within research, including, but not limited to, performance aspects and Quality of Experience (QoE).

The 145th MPEG meeting will be online from January 22-26, 2024. Click here for more information about MPEG meetings and their developments.

JPEG AI reaches Committee Draft stage at the 100^th JPEG meeting

The 100^th JPEG meeting was held in Covilhã, Portugal, from July 17^th to 21st, 2023. At this meeting, in addition to its usual standardization activities, the JPEG Committee organized a celebration on the occasion of its 100^th meeting. This face-to-face meeting, the second after the pandemic, had a record amount of face-to-face participation, with more than 70 experts attending the meeting in person.

Several activities reached important milestones. JPEG AI became a committee draft after intensive meeting sessions with detailed analysis of the core experiment results and multiple evaluations of the considered technologies. JPEG NFT issued a call for proposals, and the first JPEG XE use cases and requirements document was also issued publicly. Furthermore, JPEG Trust has made major steps towards its standardization.

The 100^th JPEG meeting had the following highlights:

• JPEG Celebrates its 100^th meeting;
• JPEG AI reaches Committee Draft;
• JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding improves its Verification Model;
• JPEG Trust develops its first part, the “Core Foundation”;
• JPEG NFT releases the Final Call for Proposals;
• JPEG AIC-3 initiates the definition of a Working Draft;
• JPEG XE releases the Use Cases and Requirements for Event-based Vision;
• JPEG DNA defines the evaluation of the responses to the Call for Proposals;
• JPEG XS proceeds the development of the 3rd edition;
• JPEG Systems releases a Reference Software.

The following sections summarize the main highlights of the 100^th JPEG meeting.

JPEG Celebrates its 100^th meeting

The JPEG Committee organized a celebration of its 100th meeting. A ceremony took place on July 19, 2023 to mark this important milestone. The JPEG Convenor initiated the ceremony, followed by a speech from Prof. Carlos Salema, founder and former chair of the Instituto de Telecomunicações and current vice president of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, and a welcome note from Prof. Silvia Socorro, vice-rector for research at the University of Beira Interior. Personalities from standardization organizations ISO, IEC and ITU, as well as the Portuguese government, sent welcome addresses in form of recorded videos. Furthermore, a collection of short video addresses from past and current JPEG experts was collected and presented during the ceremony. The celebration was preceded by a workshop on “Media Authenticity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”. Further information on the workshop and its proceedings are accessible on jpeg.org. A social event followed the celebration ceremony.

The 100th meeting celebration and cake.

100th meeting Social Event.

JPEG AI

The JPEG AI (ISO/IEC 6048) learning-based image coding system has completed the Committee Draft of the standard. The current JPEG AI Verification Model (VM) has two operation points, called base and high which include several tools which can be enabled or disabled, without re-training the neural network models. The base operation point is a subset of design elements of the high operation point. The lowest configuration (base operating point without tools) provides 8% rate savings over the VVC Intra anchor with twice faster decoding and 250 times faster encoder run time on CPU. In the most powerful configuration, the current VM achieves a 29% compression gain over the VVC Intra anchor.

The performance of the JPEG AI VM 3 was presented and discussed during the 100th JPEG meeting. The findings of the 15 core experiments created during the previous 99th JPEG meeting, as well as other input contributions, were discussed and investigated. This effort resulted in the reorganization of many syntactic parts with the goal of their simplification, as well as the use of several neural networks and tools, namely some design simplifications and post filtering improvements. Furthermore, coding efficiency was increased at high quality up to visually lossless, and region-of-interest quality enhancement functionality, as well as bit-exact repeatability, were added among other enhancements. The attention mechanism for the high operation point is the most significant change, as it considerably decreases decoder complexity. The entropy decoding neural network structure is now identical for the high and base operation points. The defined analysis and synthesis transforms enable efficient coding from high quality to near visually lossless and the chroma quality has been improved with the use of novel enhancement filtering technologies.

JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding

The JPEG Pleno Point Cloud activity progressed at the 100th meeting with a major improvement to its Verification Model (VM) incorporating a sparse convolutional framework providing improved quality with a more efficient computational model. In addition, an exciting new application was demonstrated showing the ability of the JPEG VM to support point cloud classification. The 100th JPEG Meeting also saw the release of a new point cloud test set to better support this activity. Prior to the 101st JPEG meeting in October 2023, JPEG experts will investigate possible advancements to the VM in the areas of attention models, voxel pruning within sparse tensor convolution, and support for residual lossless coding. In addition, a major Exploration Study will be conducted to explore the latest point cloud quality metrics.

JPEG Trust

The JPEG Committee is expediting the development of the first part, the “Core Foundation”, of its new international standard: JPEG Trust. This standard defines a framework for establishing trust in media, and addresses aspects of authenticity and provenance through secure and reliable annotation of media assets throughout their life cycle. JPEG Trust is being built on its 2022 Call for Proposals, whose responses form the basis of the framework under development.

The new standard is expected to be published in 2024. To stay updated on JPEG Trust, please regularly check the JPEG website at jpeg.org for the latest information and reach out to the contacts listed below to subscribe to the JPEG Trust mailing list.

JPEG NFT

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are an exciting new way to create and trade media assets, and have seen an increasing interest from global markets. NFTs promise to impact the trading of artworks, collectible media assets, micro-licensing, gaming, ticketing and more.  At the same time, concerns about interoperability between platforms, intellectual property rights, and fair dealing must be addressed.

JPEG is pleased to announce a Final Call for Proposals on JPEG NFT to address these challenges. The Final Call for Proposals on JPEG NFT and the associated Use Cases and Requirements for JPEG NFT document can be downloaded from the jpeg.org website. JPEG invites interested parties to register their proposals by 2023-10-23. The final deadline for submission of full proposals is 2024-01-15.

JPEG AIC

During the 100th JPEG meeting, the AIC activity continued its efforts on the Core Experiments, which aim at collecting fundamental information on the performance of the contributions received in April 2023 in response to a Call for Contributions on Subjective Image Quality Assessment. These results will be considered during the design of the AIC-3 standard, which has been carried out in a collaborative way since its beginning. The activity also initiated the definition of a Working Draft for AIC-3.

Other activities are also planned to initiate the work on a Draft Call for Proposals on Objective Image Quality Metrics (AIC-4) during the 101st JPEG meeting, October 2023. The JPEG Committee invites interested parties to take part in the discussions and drafting of the Call.

JPEG XE

For the Event-based Vision exploration, called JPEG XE, the JPEG Committee finalized a first version of a Use Cases and Requirements for Event-based Vision v0.5 document. Event-based Vision revolves around a new and emerging image modality created by event-based visual sensors. JPEG XE is about creation and development of a standard to represent events in an efficient way allowing interoperability between sensing, storage, and processing, targeting machine vision and other relevant applications. Events in the context of this standard are defined as the messages that signal the result of an observation at a precise point in time, typically triggered by a detected change in the physical world. The new Use Cases and Requirements document is the first version to become publicly available and serves mainly to attract interest from external experts and other standardization organizations. Although still in a preliminary version, the JPEG committee continues to invest efforts into refining this document, so that it can serve as a solid basis for further standardization. An Ad-Hoc Group has been re-established to work on this topic until the 101st JPEG meeting in October 2023. To stay informed about the activities please join the event-based imaging Ad-hoc Group mailing list.

JPEG DNA

The JPEG Committee has been exploring coding of images in quaternary representations particularly suitable for image archival on DNA storage. The scope of JPEG DNA is to create a standard for efficient coding of images that considers biochemical constraints and offers robustness to noise introduced by the different stages of the storage process that is based on DNA synthetic polymers.

At the 100th JPEG meeting, “Additions to the JPEG DNA Common Test Conditions version 2.0”, was produced which supplements the “JPEG DNA Common Test Conditions” by specifying a new constraint to be taken into account when coding images in quaternary representation. In addition, the detailed procedures for evaluation of the pre-registered responses to the JPEG DNA Call for Proposals were defined.

Furthermore, the next steps towards a deployed high-performance standard were discussed and defined. In particular, it was decided to request for the new work item approval once a Committee Draft stage has been reached.

The JPEG-DNA AHG has been re-established to work on the preparation of assessment and crosschecking of responses to the JPEG DNA Call for Proposals until the 101st JPEG meeting in October 2023.

JPEG XS

The JPEG Committee continued its work on the JPEG XS 3rd edition. The main goal of the 3rd edition is to reduce the bitrate for on-screen content by half while maintaining the same image quality.

Part 1 of the standard – Core coding tools – is still under Draft International Standard (DIS) ballot. For Part 2 – Profiles and buffer models – and Part 3 – Transport and container formats – the Committee Draft (CD) circulation results were processed and the DIS ballot document was created. In Part 2, three new profiles have been added to better adapt to the needs of the market. In particular, two profiles are based on the High 444.12 profile, but introduce some useful constraints on the wavelet decomposition structure and disable the column modes entirely. This makes the profiles easier to implement (with lower resource usage and fewer options to support) while remaining consistent with the way JPEG XS is already being deployed in the market today. Additionally, the two new High profiles are further constrained by explicit conformance points (like the new TDC profile) to better support market interoperability. The third new profile is called TDC MLS 444.12, and allows the achievement of mathematically lossless quality. For example, it is intended for medical applications, where a truly lossless reconstruction might be required.

Completion of the JPEG XS 3rd edition standard is scheduled for January 2024.

JPEG Systems

At the 100th meeting the JPEG Committee produced the CD text of 19566-10, the JPEG Systems Reference Software. In addition, a JPEG white paper was released that provides an overview of the entire JPEG Systems standard. The white paper can be downloaded on the JPEG.org website.

Final Quote

“The JPEG Committee celebrated its 100^th meeting, an important milestone considering the current success of JPEG standards. This celebration was enriched with significant achievements at the meeting, notably the release of the Committee Draft of JPEG AI.” said Prof. Touradj Ebrahimi, the Convenor of the JPEG Committee.

Introduction

This column provides a report on the last Video Quality Experts Group (VQEG) plenary meeting, which took place from 26 to 30 June 2023 in San Mateo (USA), hosted by Sony Interactive Entertainment. More than 90 participants worldwide registered for the hybrid meeting, counting with the physical attendance of more than 40 people. This meeting was co-located with the ITU-T SG12 meeting, which took place in the first two days of the week. In addition, more than 50 presentations related to the ongoing projects within VQEG were provided, leading to interesting discussions among the researchers attending the meeting. All the related information, minutes, and files from the meeting are available online on the VQEG meeting website, and video recordings of the meeting are available on Youtube.

In this meeting, there were several aspects that can be relevant for the SIGMM community working on quality assessment. For instance, there are interesting new work items and efforts on updating existing recommendations discussed in the ITU-T SG12 co-located meeting (see the section about the Intersector Rapporteur Group on Audiovisual Quality Assessment). In addition, there was an interesting panel related to deep learning for video coding and video quality with experts from different companies (e.g., Netflix, Adobe, Meta, and Google) (see the Emerging Technologies Group section). Also, a special session on Quality of Experience (QoE) for gaming was organized, involving researchers from several international institutions. Apart from this, readers may be interested in the presentation about MPEG activities on quality assessment and the different developments from industry and academia on tools, algorithms and methods for video quality assessment.

We encourage readers interested in any of the activities going on in the working groups to check their websites and subscribe to the corresponding reflectors, to follow them and get involved.

Overview of VQEG Projects

Audiovisual HD (AVHD)

The AVHD group investigates improved subjective and objective methods for analyzing commonly available video systems. In this meeting, there were several presentations related to topics covered by this group, which were distributed in different sessions during the meeting.

Nabajeet Barman (Kingston University, UK) presented a datasheet for subjective and objective quality assessment datasets. Ali Ak (Nantes Université, France) delivered a presentation on the acceptability and annoyance of video quality in context. Mikołaj Leszczuk (AGH University, Poland) presented a crowdsourcing pixel quality study using non-neutral photos. Kamil Koniuch (AGH University, Poland) discussed about the role of theoretical models in ecologically valid studies, covering the example of a video quality of experience model. Jingwen Zhu (Nantes Université, France) presented her work on evaluating the streaming experience of the viewers with Just Noticeable Difference (JND)-based Encoding. Also, Lucjan Janowski (AGH University, Poland) talked about proposing a more ecologically-valid experiment protocol using YouTube platform.

In addition, there were four presentations by researchers from the industry sector. Hojat Yeganeh (SSIMWAVE/IMAX, USA) talked about how more accurate video quality assessment metrics would lead to more savings. Lukas Krasula (Netflix, USA) delivered a presentation on subjective video quality for 4K HDR-WCG content using a browser-based approach for at-home testing. Also, Christos Bampis (Netflix, USA) presented the work done by Netflix on improving video quality with neural networks. Finally, Pranav Sodhani (Apple, USA) talked about how to evaluate videos with the Advanced Video Quality Tool (AVQT).

Quality Assessment for Health applications (QAH)

The QAH group works on the quality assessment of health applications, considering both subjective evaluation and the development of datasets, objective metrics, and task-based approaches. The group is currently working towards an ITU-T recommendation for the assessment of medical contents. In this sense, Meriem Outtas (INSA Rennes, France) led an editing session of a draft of this recommendation.

Statistical Analysis Methods (SAM)

The SAM group works on improving analysis methods both for the results of subjective experiments and for objective quality models and metrics. The group is currently working on updating and merging the ITU-T recommendations P.913, P.911, and P.910.

Apart from this, several researchers presented their works on related topics. For instance, Pablo Pérez (Nokia XR Lab, Spain) presented (not so) new findings about transmission rating scale and subjective scores. Also, Jingwen Zhu (Nantes Université, France) presented ZREC, an approach for mean and percentile opinion scores recovery. In addition, Andreas Pastor (Nantes Université, France) presented three works: 1) on the accuracy of open video quality metrics for local decision in AV1 video codec, 2) on recovering quality scores in noisy pairwise subjective experiments using negative log-likelihood, and 3) on guidelines for subjective haptic quality assessment, considering a case study on quality assessment of compressed haptic signals. Lucjan Janowski (AGH University, Poland) discussed about experiment precision, proposing experiment precision measures and methods for experiments comparison. Finally, there were three presentations from members of the University of Konstanz (Germany). Dietmar Saupe presented the JPEG AIC-3 activity on fine-grained assessment of subjective quality of compressed images, Mohsen Jenadeleh talked about how relaxed forced choice improves performance of visual quality assessment methods, and Mirko Dulfer presented his work on quantization for Mean Opinion Score (MOS) recovery in Absolute Category Rating (ACR) experiments.

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI)

CGI group is devoted to analyzing and evaluating of computer-generated content, with a focus on gaming in particular. In this meeting, Saman Zadtootaghaj (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Germany) an Nabajeet Barman (Kingston University, UK) organized a special gaming session, in which researchers from several international institutions presented their work in this topic. Among them, Yu-Chih Chen (UT Austin LIVE Lab, USA) presented GAMIVAL, a Video Quality Prediction on Mobile Cloud Gaming Content. Also, Urvashi Pal (Akamai, USA) delivered a presentation on web streaming quality assessment via computer vision applications over cloud. Mathias Wien (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) provided updates on ITU-T P.BBQCG work item, dataset and model development. Avinab Saha (UT Austin LIVE Lab, USA) presented a study of subjective and objective quality assessment of mobile cloud gaming videos. Finally, Irina Cotanis (Infovista, Sweden) and Karan Mitra (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) presented their work towards QoE models for mobile cloud and virtual reality games.

No Reference Metrics (NORM)

The NORM group is an open collaborative project for developing no-reference metrics for monitoring visual service quality. In this meeting, Margaret Pinson (NTIA, USA) and Ioannis Katsavounidis (Meta, USA), two of the chairs of the group, provided a summary of NORM successes and discussion of current efforts for improved complexity metric. In addition, there were six presentations dealing with related topics. C.-C. Jay Kuo (University of Southern California, USA) talked about blind visual quality assessment for mobile/edge computing. Vignesh V. Menon (University of Klagenfurt, Austria) presented the updates of the Video Quality Analyzer (VQA). Yilin Wang (Google/YouTube, USA) gave a talk on the recent updates on the Universal Video Quality (UVQ). Farhad Pakdaman (Tampere University, Finland) and Li Yu (Nanjing University, China), presented a low complexity no-reference image quality assessment based on multi-scale attention mechanism with natural scene statistics. Finally, Mikołaj Leszczuk (AGH University, Poland) presented his work on visual quality indicators adapted to resolution changes and on considering in-the-wild video content as a special case of user generated content and a system for its recognition.

Emerging Technologies Group (ETG)

The main objective of the ETG group is to address various aspects of multimedia that do not fall under the scope of any of the existing VQEG groups. The topics addressed are not necessarily directly related to “video quality” but can indirectly impact the work addressed as part of VQEG. This group aims to provide a common platform for people to gather together and discuss new emerging topics, discuss possible collaborations in the form of joint survey papers/whitepapers, funding proposals, etc.

One of the topics addressed by this group is related to the use of artificial-intelligence technologies to different domains, such as compression, super-resolution, and video quality assessment. In this sense, Saman Zadtootaghaj (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Germany) organized a panel session with experts from different companies (e.g., Netflix, Adobe, Meta, and Google) on deep learning in the video coding and video quality domains. In this sense, Marcos Conde (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Germany) and David Minnen (Google, USA) gave a talk on generative compression and the challenges for quality assessment.

Another topic covered by this group is greening of streaming and related trends. In this sense, Vignesh V. Menon and Samira Afzal (University of Klagenfurt, Austria) presented their work on green variable framerate encoding for adaptive live streaming. Also, Prajit T. Rajendran (Université Paris Saclay, France) and Vignesh V. Menon (University of Klagenfurt, Austria) delivered a presentation on energy efficient live per-title encoding for adaptive streaming. Finally, Berivan Isik (Stanford University, USA) talked about sandwiched video compression to efficiently extending the reach of standard codecs with neural wrappers.

Joint Effort Group (JEG) – Hybrid

The JEG group was focused on a joint work to develop hybrid perceptual/bitstream metrics and gradually evolved over time to include several areas of Video Quality Assessment (VQA), such as the creation of a large dataset for training such models using full-reference metrics instead of subjective metrics. In addition, the group will include under its activities the VQEG project Implementer’s Guide for Video Quality Metrics (IGVQM).

Apart from this, there were three presentations addressing related topics in this meeting. Nabajeet Barman (Kingston University, UK) presented a subjective dataset for multi-screen video streaming applications. Also, Lohic Fotio (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) presented his works entitled “Human-in-the-loop” training procedure of the artificial-intelligence-based observer (AIO) of a real subject and advances on the “template” on how to report DNN-based video quality metrics.

The website of the group includes a list of activities of interest, freely available publications, and other resources.

Immersive Media Group (IMG)

The IMG group is focused on the research on quality assessment of immersive media. The main joint activity going on within the group is the development of a test plan to evaluate the QoE of immersive interactive communication systems, which is carried out in collaboration with ITU-T through the work item P.IXC. In this meeting, Pablo Pérez (Nokia XR Lab, Spain) and Jesús Gutiérrez (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain) provided a report on the status of the test plan, including the test proposals from 13 different groups that have joined the activity, which will be launched in September.

In addition to this, Shirin Rafiei (RISE, Sweden) delivered a presentation on her work on human interaction in industrial tele-operated driving through a laboratory investigation.

Quality Assessment for Computer Vision Applications (QACoViA)

The goal of the QACoViA group is to study the visual quality requirements for computer vision methods, where the “final observer” is an algorithm. In this meeting, Avrajyoti Dutta (AGH University, Poland) delivered a presentation dealing with the subjective quality assessment of video summarization algorithms through a crowdsourcing approach.

Intersector Rapporteur Group on Audiovisual Quality Assessment (IRG-AVQA)

This VQEG meeting was co-located with the rapporteur group meeting of ITU-T Study Group 12 – Question 19, coordinated by Chulhee Lee (Yonsei University, Korea). During the first two days of the week, the experts from ITU-T and VQEG worked together on various topics. For instance, there was an editing session to work together on the VQEG proposal to merge the ITU-T Recommendations P.910, P.911, and P.913, including updates with new methods. Another topic addressed during this meeting was the working item “P.obj-recog”, related to the development of an object-recognition-rate-estimation model in surveillance video of autonomous driving. In this sense, a liaison statement was also discussed with the VQEG AVHD group. Also in relation to this group, another liaison statement was discussed on the new work item “P.SMAR” on subjective tests for evaluating the user experience for mobile Augmented Reality (AR) applications.

Other updates

One interesting presentation was given by Mathias Wien (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) on the quality evaluation activities carried out within the MPEG Visual Quality Assessment group, including the expert viewing tests. This presentation and the follow-up discussions will help to strengthen the collaboration between VQEG and MPEG on video quality evaluation activities.

The next VQEG plenary meeting will take place in autumn 2023 and will be announced soon on the VQEG website.

The 143rd MPEG meeting took place in person in Geneva, Switzerland. The official press release can be accessed here and includes the following details:

• MPEG finalizes the Carriage of Uncompressed Video and Images in ISOBMFF
• MPEG reaches the First Milestone for two ISOBMFF Enhancements
• MPEG ratifies Third Editions of VVC and VSEI
• MPEG reaches the First Milestone of AVC (11th Edition) and HEVC Amendment
• MPEG Genomic Coding extended to support Joint Structured Storage and Transport of Sequencing Data, Annotation Data, and Metadata
• MPEG completes Reference Software and Conformance for Geometry-based Point Cloud Compression

We have adjusted the press release to suit the audience of ACM SIGMM and emphasized research on video technologies. This edition of the MPEG column centers around ISOBMFF and video codecs. As always, the column will conclude with an update on MPEG-DASH.

ISOBMFF Enhancements

The ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF) supports the carriage of a wide range of media data such as video, audio, point clouds, haptics, etc., which has now been further extended to uncompressed video and images.

ISO/IEC 23001-17 – Carriage of uncompressed video and images in ISOBMFF – specifies how uncompressed 2D image and video data is carried in files that comply with the ISOBMFF family of standards. This encompasses a range of data types, including monochromatic and colour data, transparency (alpha) information, and depth information. The standard enables the industry to effectively exchange uncompressed video and image data while utilizing all additional information provided by the ISOBMFF, such as timing, color space, and sample aspect ratio for interoperable interpretation and/or display of uncompressed video and image data.

ISO/IEC 14496-15 (based on ISOBMFF) provides the basis for “network abstraction layer (NAL) unit structured video coding formats” such as AVC, HEVC, and VVC. The current version is the 6th edition, which has been amended to support neural-network post-filter supplemental enhancement information (SEI) messages. This amendment defines the carriage of the neural-network post-filter characteristics (NNPFC) SEI messages and the neural-network post-filter activation (NNPFA) SEI messages to enable the delivery of (i) a base post-processing filter and (ii) a series of neural network updates synchronized with the input video pictures/frames.

Research aspects: While the former, the carriage of uncompressed video and images in ISOBMFF, seems to be something obvious to be supported within a file format, the latter enables to use neural network-based post-processing filters to enhance video quality after the decoding process, which is an active field of research. The current extensions with the file format provide a baseline for the evaluation (cf. also next section).

Video Codec Enhancements

MPEG finalized the specifications of the third editions of the Versatile Video Coding (VVC, ISO/IEC 23090-3) and the Versatile Supplemental Enhancement Information (VSEI, ISO/IEC 23002-7) standards. Additionally, MPEG issued the Committee Draft (CD) text of the eleventh edition of the Advanced Video Coding (AVC, ISO/IEC 14496-10) standard and the Committee Draft Amendment (CDAM) text on top of the High Efficiency Video Coding standard (HEVC, ISO/IEC 23008-2).

These SEI messages include two systems-related SEI messages, (a) one for signaling of green metadata as specified in ISO/IEC 23001-11 and (b) the other for signaling of an alternative video decoding interface for immersive media as specified in ISO/IEC 23090-13. Furthermore, the neural network post-filter characteristics SEI message and the neural-network post-processing filter activation SEI message have been added to AVC, HEVC, and VVC.

The two SEI messages for describing and activating post-filters using neural network technology in video bitstreams could, for example, be used for reducing coding noise, spatial and temporal upsampling (i.e., super-resolution and frame interpolation), color improvement, or general denoising of the decoder output. The description of the neural network architecture itself is based on MPEG’s neural network representation standard (ISO/IEC 15938 17). As results from an exploration experiment have shown, neural network-based post-filters can deliver better results than conventional filtering methods. Processes for invoking these new post-filters have already been tested in a software framework and will be made available in an upcoming version of the VVC reference software (ISO/IEC 23090-16).

Research aspects: SEI messages for neural network post-filters (NNPF) for AVC, HEVC, and VVC, including systems supports within the ISOBMFF, is a powerful tool(box) for interoperable visual quality enhancements at the client. This tool(box) will (i) allow for Quality of Experience (QoE) assessments and (ii) enable the analysis thereof across codecs once integrated within the corresponding reference software.

MPEG-DASH Updates

The current status of MPEG-DASH is depicted in the figure below:

The latest edition of MPEG-DASH is the 5th edition (ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022) which is publicly/freely available here. There are currently three amendments under development:

• ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022 Amendment 1: Preroll, nonlinear playback, and other extensions. This amendment has been ratified already and is currently being integrated into the 5th edition of part 1 of the MPEG-DASH specification.
• ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022 Amendment 2: EDRAP streaming and other extensions. EDRAP stands for Extended Dependent Random Access Point and at this meeting the Draft Amendment (DAM) has been approved. EDRAP increases the coding efficiency for random access and has been adopted within VVC.
• ISO/IEC 23009-1:2022 Amendment 3: Segment sequences for random access and switching. This amendment is at Committee Draft Amendment (CDAM) stage, the first milestone of the formal standardization process. This amendment aims at improving tune-in time for low latency streaming.

Additionally, MPEG Technologies under Consideration (TuC) comprises a few new work items, such as content selection and adaptation logic based on device orientation and signalling of haptics data within DASH.

Finally, part 9 of MPEG-DASH — redundant encoding and packaging for segmented live media (REAP) — has been promoted to Draft International Standard (DIS). It is expected to be finalized in the upcoming meetings.

Research aspects: Random access has been extensively evaluated in the context of video coding but not (low latency) streaming. Additionally, the TuC item related to content selection and adaptation logic based on device orientation raises QoE issues to be further explored.

The 144th MPEG meeting will be held in Hannover from October 16-20, 2023. Click here for more information about MPEG meetings and their developments.

JPEG Trust on a mission to re-establish trust in digital media

The 99th JPEG meeting was held online, from 24th to 28th April 2023.

Providing tools suitable for establishing provenance, authenticity and ownership of multimedia content is one of the most difficult challenges faced nowadays, considering the technological models that allow effective multimedia data manipulation and generation. As in the past, the JPEG Committee is again answering the emerging challenges in multimedia. JPEG Trust is a standard offering solutions to media authenticity, provenance and ownership.

Furthermore, learning-based coding standards, JPEG AI and JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud Coding, continue their development. New verification models that incorporate the technological developments resulting from verification experiments and contributions have been approved.

Also relevant, the responses to the Calls for Contributions on standardization of quality models of JPEG AIC and JPEG Pleno Light Field Quality Assessment received responses and started a collaborative process to define new standards.

The 99^th JPEG meeting had the following highlights:

• New JPEG Trust international standard targets media authenticity
• JPEG AI new verification model
• JPEG DNA releases its call for proposals
• JPEG Pleno Light Field Quality Assessment analyses the response to the call for contributions
• JPEG AIC analyses the response to the call for contributions
• JPEG XE identifies use cases and requirements for event based vision
• JPEG Systems: JUMBF second edition is progressing to publication stage
• JPEG NFT prepares a call for proposals
• JPEG XS progress for its third edition

The following summarizes the major achievements during the 99th JPEG meeting.

New JPEG Trust international standard targets media authenticity

Drawing reliable conclusions about the authenticity of digital media is complicated, and becoming more so as AI-based synthetic media such as Deep Fakes and Generative Adversarial Netwodrks (GANs) start appearing. Consumers of social media are challenged to assess the trustworthiness of the media they encounter, and agencies that depend on the authenticity of media assets must be concerned with mistaking fake media for real, with risks of real-world consequences.

To address this problem and to provide leadership in global interoperable media asset authenticity, JPEG initiated development of a new international standard: JPEG Trust. JPEG Trust defines a framework for establishing trust in media. This framework adresses aspects of authenticity, provenance and integrity through secure and reliable annotation of media assets throughout their life cycle. The first part, “Core foundation”, defines the JPEG Trust framework and provides building blocks for more elaborate use cases. It is expected that the standard will evolve over time and be extended with additional specifications.

JPEG Trust arises from a four-year exploration of requirements for addressing mis- and dis-information in online media, followed by a 2022 Call for Proposals, conducted by international experts from industry and academia from all over the world.

The new standard is expected to be published in 2024. To stay updated on JPEG Trust, please regularly check the JPEG website for the latest information.

JPEG AI

The JPEG AI activity progressed at this meeting with more than 60 technical contributions submitted for improvements and additions to the Verification Model (VM), which after some discussion and analysis, resulted in several adoptions for integration into the future VM3.0. These adoptions target the speed-up of the decoding process, namely the replacement of the range coder by an asymmetric numeral system, support for multi-threading or/and single instruction multiple data operations, and parallel decoding with sub-streams. The JPEG AI context module was significantly accelerated with a new network architecture along with other synthesis transform and entropy decoding network simplifications. Moreover, a lightweight model was also adopted targeting mobile devices, providing 10%-15% compression efficiency gains over VVC Intra at just 20-30 kMAC/pxl. In this context, JPEG AI will start the development and evaluation of two JPEG AI VM configurations at two different operating points: lightweight and high.

At the 99th meeting, the JPEG AI requirements were reviewed and it was concluded that most of the key requirements will be achieved by the previously anticipated timeline for DIS (scheduled for Oct. 2023) and thus version 1 of the JPEG AI standard will go as planned without changes in its timeline and with a clear focus on image reconstruction. Some core requirements, such as those addressing computer vision and image processing tasks as well as progressive decoding, will be addressed in a version 2 along with other tools that further improve requirements already addressed in version 1, such as better compression efficiency.

JPEG Pleno Learning-based Point Cloud coding

The JPEG Pleno Point Cloud activity progressed at this meeting with a major improvement to its VM providing improved performance and control over the balance between the coding of geometry and colour via a split geometry and colour coding framework. Colour attribute information is encoded using JPEG AI resulting in enhanced performance and compatibility with the ecosystem of emerging high-performance JPEG codecs. Prior to the 100th JPEG Meeting, JPEG experts will investigate possible advancements to the VM in the areas of attention models, sparse tensor convolution, and support for residual lossless coding.

JPEG DNA

The JPEG Committee has been working on an exploration for coding of images in quaternary representations particularly suitable for image archival on DNA storage. The scope of JPEG DNA is the creation of a standard for efficient coding of images that considers biochemical constraints and offers robustness to noise introduced by the different stages of the storage process that is based on DNA synthetic polymers. During the 99th JPEG meeting, a final call for proposals for JPEG DNA was issued and made public, as a first concrete step towards standardization.

The final call for proposals for JPEG DNA is complemented by a JPEG DNA Common Test Conditions document which is also made public, describing details about the dataset, operating points, anchors and performance assessment methodologies and metrics that will be used to evaluate anchors and future proposals to be submitted. A set of exploration studies has validated the procedures outlined in the final call for proposals for JPEG DNA. The deadline for submission of proposals to the Call for Proposals for JPEG DNA is 2 October 2023, with a pre-registration due by 10 July 2023. The JPEG DNA international standard is expected to be published by early 2025.

JPEG Pleno Light Field Quality Assessment

At the 99th JPEG meeting two contributions were received in response to the JPEG Pleno Final Call for Contributions (CfC) on Subjective Light Field Quality Assessment.

• Contribution 1: presents a 3-step subjective quality assessment framework, with a pre-processing step; a scoring step; and a data processing step. The contribution includes a software implementation of the quality assessment framework.
• Contribution 2: presents a multi-view light field dataset, comprising synthetic light fields. It provides RGB + ground-truth depth data, realistic and challenging blender scenes, with various textures, fine structures, rich depth, specularities, non-Lambertian areas, and difficult materials (water, patterns, etc).

The received contributions will be considered in the development of a modular framework based on a collaborative process addressing the use cases and requirements under the JPEG Pleno Quality Assessment of light fields standardization effort.

JPEG AIC

Three contributions in response to the JPEG Call for Contributions (CfC) on Subjective Image Quality Assessment were received at the 99th JPEG meeting. One contribution presented a new subjective quality assessment methodology that combines relative and absolute data. The second contribution reported a new subjective quality assessment methodology based on triplet comparison with boosting techniques. Finally, the last contribution reported a new pairwise sampling methodology.

These contributions will be considered in the development of the standard, following a collaborative process. Several core experiments were designed to assist the creation of a Working Draft (WD) for the future JPEG AIC Part 3 standard.

JPEG XE

The JPEG committee continued with the exploration activity on Event-based Vision, called JPEG XE. Event-based Vision revolves around a new and emerging image modality created by event-based visual sensors. At this meeting, the scope was defined to be the creation and development of a standard to represent events in an efficient way allowing interoperability between sensing, storage, and processing, targeting machine vision applications. Events in the context of this standard are defined as the messages that signal the result of an observation at a precise point in time, typically triggered by a detected change in the physical world. The exploration activity is currently working on the definition of the use cases and requirements.

An Ad-hoc Group has been established. To stay informed about the activities please join the event based imaging Ad-hoc Group mailing list.

JPEG XL

The second editions of JPEG XL Part 1 (Core coding system) and Part 2 (File format) have proceeded to the DIS stage. These second editions provide clarifications, corrections and editorial improvements that will facilitate independent implementations. Experiments are planned to prepare for a second edition of JPEG XL Part 3 (Conformance testing), including conformance testing of the independent implementations J40, jxlatte, and jxl-oxide.

JPEG Systems

The second edition of JUMBF (JPEG Universal Metadata Box Format, ISO/IEC 19566-5) is progressing to the IS publication stage; the second edition brings new capabilities and support for additional types of media.

JPEG NFT

Many Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) point to assets represented in JPEG formats or can be represented in current and emerging formats under development by the JPEG Committee. However, various trust and security concerns have been raised about NFTs and the digital assets on which they rely. To better understand user requirements for media formats, the JPEG Committee conducted an exploration on NFTs. The scope of JPEG NFT is the creation of effective specifications that support a wide range of applications relying on NFTs applied to media assets. The standard will be secure, trustworthy and eco-friendly, allowing for an interoperable ecosystem relying on NFT within a single application or across applications. As a result of the exploration, at the 99th JPEG Meeting the committee released a “Draft Call for Proposals on JPEG NFT” and associated updated “Use Cases and Requirements for JPEG NFT”. Both documents are made publicly available for review and feedback.

JPEG XS

The JPEG committee continued its work on the JPEG XS 3rd edition. The primary goal of the 3rd edition is to deliver the same image quality as the 2nd edition, but with half of the required bandwidth. For Part 1 – Core coding tools – the Draft International Standard will proceed to ISO/IEC ballot. This is a significant step in the standardization process with all the core coding technology now final. Most notably, Part 1 adds a temporal decorrelation coding mode to further improve the coding efficiency, while keeping the low-latency and low-complexity core aspects of JPEG XS. Furthermore, Part 2 – Profiles and buffer models – and Part 3 – Transport and container formats – will proceed to Committee Draft consultation. Part 2 is important as it defines the conformance points for JPEG XS compliance. Completion of the JPEG XS 3rd edition standard is scheduled for January 2024.

Final Quote

“The creation of standardized tools to bring assurance of authenticity, provenance and ownership for multimedia content is the most efficient path to suppress the abusive use of fake media. JPEG Trust will be the first international standard that provides such tools.” said Prof. Touradj Ebrahimi, the Convenor of the JPEG Committee.

Future JPEG meetings are planned as follows:

• No 100, will be in Covilhã, Portugal from 17-21 July 2023
• No 101, will be online from 30 October – 3 November 2023

A zip package containing the official JPEG logo and logos of all JPEG standards can be downloaded here.