The algorithms that are implemented in MPEG-4 standard represent scene as a set of audio-
visual objects, among which there are some hierarchical relations in space and time. In all
previous standards for compression of video, image has been seen as a unified whole. In this
standard, we are meeting with the concept of video object, thereby to distinguish two types of
visual objects—natural and synthetic visual objects.
At the lowest hierarchical level are primitive media objects, such as, for example, static images
(fixed background scenes), visual objects (a person who speaks no background), and audio
facilities (voice of the speaker). This approach brings an increase in compression ratio,
increased interactivity and enables the integration of objects’ different nature such as natural
image or video, graphics, text and sound.
MPEG-4 standard has inherited the MPEG-2 standard. Each MPEG standard consists of several
parts (Parts). Each part covers a certain aspect and area of use. Thus, for example, MPEG-4 Part
2 is used for video coding (such as DivX and Quicktime 6), MPEG-4 Part 10/H.264 represents
an Advanced Video Coding (AVC), and it is used in areas with high-definition content such
as HD broadcasting and storage, HD formats such as HD-DVD and Blue-ray discs [13].
MPEG-4 Part 3 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a part for high-quality audio coding.
The first inheritor to MPEG-2 format was MPEG-4 Part 2, which is published by ISO in 1999.
As in the case of the MPEG-2, coding efficiency is strictly related to the complexity of the source
material and the encoder implementation. MPEG-4 Part 2 is defined for applications in the
field of multimedia in small bit rates, but it is in further expanded for applications in the field
of broadcasting. Formal subjective evaluation has shown that the gain of the efficient coding
with MPEG-4 Part 2, compared to the MPEG-2, is between 15 and 20%. For Digital Video
Broadcasting (DVB) applications, this gain is not enough to justify the destabilization and
destruction of MPEG-2 codec (which are used by DVB systems)—considering that the MPEG-4
