H.264
A video compression, or encoding, standard (also known as MPEG-4 part 10, H.26L, JVT and AVC, phew!) for sending video over IP.
Backers claim improved compression means a dramatic improvement in compression over the older H.263 standard at no loss of video quality - a viewer of an H.264 video at 384K bit/sec should see the same sort of picture as somebody viewing a video at 768K bit/sec sent via H.263.
Although originally intended for broadcast video, the specification is beginning to find use on enterprise IP networks:
"When we start doing international calls [with H.264], we'll see the benefits," says Alex Nason, senior manager of business development at Johns Hopkins International, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore. Nason says some overseas calls can cost $12 per minute for a 384K bit/sec connection using six bonded ISDN lines. "If I can reduce [by] two lines [a $4 per minute savings], double the quality and still save money, that's a no-brainer."
From Polycom unit boasts better video compression, Network World, 10/06/03.
Additional resources
H.264 / MPEG-4 Part 10 Tutorials
Series of tutorials on specific sections of the standard (tutorials are in PDF).
MPEG-4 overview
From ISO.
MPEG Home Page
More info on MPEG specifications (all the way up to MPEG-21).
Multimedia Exchange
Multimedia Editor Jason Meserve's Weblog on multimedia standards and products.
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