Moving Picture Experts Group
International standards community responsible for widely adopted audio, video, multimedia, and data-coding specifications.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
The Moving Picture Experts Group, commonly known as MPEG, is an international standards-making community associated with ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29, the subcommittee responsible for coding of audio, picture, multimedia, and hypermedia information. It is not a conventional commercial company selling consumer products. Instead, it coordinates technical work by specialists from industry, universities, research institutes, and public-sector organizations to create international standards for the representation, compression, storage, transmission, description, and delivery of digital media. MPEG was established in 1988 through the initiative of Dr. Hiroshi Yasuda of NTT and Dr. Leonardo Chiariglione of CSELT. Its first meeting took place in Ottawa, Canada, in May 1988. Under Chiariglione's long tenure as convenor, the group became one of the most influential forums in digital-media engineering. By the period of the MPEG-4 project, meetings commonly attracted several hundred participants from around the world. The resulting standards became embedded in optical discs, broadcast television, satellite and cable distribution, digital cameras, personal computers, mobile devices, internet video, and professional production systems. The earliest highly visible success was MPEG-1, whose audio and video coding tools were designed for digital storage media at roughly compact-disc data rates. MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, widely known as MP3, became particularly influential in digital music distribution. MPEG-2 expanded the scope to broadcast-quality television, interlaced video, transport streams, program streams, and related audio systems. It became foundational to DVD-Video and many digital television systems, including ATSC, DVB, and ISDB implementations. MPEG-4 introduced a broader framework for coding audiovisual objects and supporting more advanced multimedia applications. Its later Part 10 specification, developed jointly with the ITU-T through the Joint Video Team, became H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and was adopted across high-definition video, broadcast, discs, conferencing, and online services. Subsequent work extended beyond conventional video compression. MPEG-7 addressed multimedia content description; MPEG-21 provided a multimedia framework; MPEG-DASH standardized adaptive streaming over HTTP; MPEG-H covered high-efficiency coding, media transport, and 3D audio; MPEG-I addressed immersive media; and MPEG-G applied MPEG technologies to genomic information representation. The organization has also collaborated closely with ITU-T expert groups. The Joint Video Team produced H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, while the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding developed HEVC, also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2. The Joint Video Experts Team later developed VVC, or H.266, associated with MPEG-I Part 3. These collaborations demonstrate MPEG's role as a bridge between ISO/IEC international standards and telecommunications recommendations. MPEG's organizational form changed substantially in 2020. After the January 2020 meeting in Brussels, physical standardization meetings were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chiariglione retired as convenor on June 6, 2020, during a restructuring in which the former SC 29 Working Group 11 activities were distributed among multiple advisory and working groups. Prof. Jörn Ostermann served during the transition and subsequently led the technical-coordination advisory function. Meetings continued online before a partial return to in-person sessions in 2022. MPEG therefore remains best understood as a standards ecosystem within ISO/IEC rather than as a standalone corporate brand.
History
MPEG began in 1988 as an ISO/IEC initiative led by Hiroshi Yasuda and Leonardo Chiariglione. Its initial objective was to create practical, interoperable methods for compressing moving images and sound. The first meeting was held in Ottawa in May 1988. Chiariglione remained the group's convenor until 2020, while participation expanded to several hundred experts per meeting from technology companies, broadcasters, universities, and research institutions. The first major result, MPEG-1, was designed for digital storage media with constrained data rates. Its audio component included MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, later popularized as MP3. MPEG-2 followed with a wider architecture for television and professional distribution. It supported broadcast-oriented video, interlacing, transport streams, and program streams, and became associated with DVD-Video and major digital television standards. MPEG-4 broadened the work from conventional frame-based compression to coding of audiovisual objects and interactive multimedia. Its later AVC component, developed with the ITU-T through the Joint Video Team, became H.264 and achieved broad adoption in broadcasting, discs, streaming, mobile video, and production. MPEG also developed standards concerned with content description, multimedia frameworks, application formats, systems technologies, middleware, rich-media interfaces, immersive media, adaptive streaming, and genomic data. Cooperation with ITU-T remained central. The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding created HEVC/H.265, while the Joint Video Experts Team developed VVC/H.266. MPEG-DASH standardized dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP, helping services deliver segmented media at different bitrates according to network conditions. MPEG-H and MPEG-I extended the scope toward 3D audio, immersive media, and newer delivery environments. MPEG-G applied the standards tradition to genomic information representation. The former MPEG Working Group 11 structure was reorganized in 2020. Chiariglione retired as convenor on June 6, and the work was divided among three advisory groups and seven working groups under ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29. Jörn Ostermann played a leading role during the transition and in technical coordination. The pandemic forced meetings online from 2020, although face-to-face meetings resumed in part beginning with the 140th meeting in Mainz in October 2022. The current MPEG identity therefore describes a coordinated family of expert groups rather than the single, older working-group structure that existed for much of its history.
- 2022
Partial return to in-person meetings
[1]MPEG meetings began returning to physical venues alongside online participation, beginning with the meeting in Mainz.
- 2020
MPEG structure reorganized
[1]The former Working Group 11 activities were redistributed among advisory and specialized working groups in SC 29.
- 2020
VVC completed
[1]The Joint Video Experts Team completed Versatile Video Coding, standardized as H.266 and associated with MPEG-I Part 3.
- 2012
MPEG Industry Forum dissolved
[1]The industry consortium ended after concluding that MPEG adoption had become sufficiently established.
- 2010
Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding formed
[1]The JCT-VC began work that resulted in HEVC/H.265, designed to improve coding efficiency over H.264.
- 2001
Joint Video Team formed
[1]MPEG and ITU-T created the JVT, whose principal result was H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.
- 1998
MPEG-4 published
[1]MPEG-4 introduced a wider framework for coding audiovisual objects and advanced multimedia applications.
- 1996
MPEG-2 published
[1]MPEG-2 established a broader basis for broadcast-quality television, digital distribution, and disc-video systems.
- 1993
MPEG-1 published
[1]The first major MPEG compression standard addressed moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage media.
- 1988
MPEG founded
[1]ISO and IEC established the MPEG initiative following work led by Hiroshi Yasuda and Leonardo Chiariglione; the first meeting took place in Ottawa.
Products and positioning
International standardization body and technical community for interoperable media coding, delivery, description, and representation.
Audio and video compression · 1993
MPEG-1
MPEG-1 was the group's first major moving-picture and audio compression standard. It targeted digital storage media and constrained data rates, including the approximately compact-disc-rate environment for which Video CD became a notable application. Its audio specifications include Layer III, the technology widely known as MP3. MPEG-1 remains historically important even where newer codecs have replaced it in mainstream distribution.
Broadcast and disc-video systems · 1996
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 expanded MPEG coding for broadcast-quality television and professional distribution. The standard includes video, audio, transport-stream, and program-stream technologies, with support for interlaced television and higher-quality signals than MPEG-1. It became foundational to DVD-Video and was selected or adapted by major digital television ecosystems, including ATSC, DVB, and ISDB.
Advanced multimedia coding · 1998
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a broad family covering coding of audiovisual objects and numerous multimedia functions. It includes MPEG-4 Part 2 and the later AVC specification, MPEG-4 Part 10, which is also standardized as ITU-T H.264. The family supports more advanced compression and interactive-media concepts than MPEG-2 and became central to internet video, mobile media, high-definition discs, and broadcast applications.
Multimedia metadata · 2002
MPEG-7
MPEG-7 defines a multimedia content-description interface rather than a primary compression codec. It provides structures and tools for describing audiovisual material, enabling applications to organize, search, identify, and exchange information about media content.
Multimedia framework · 2001
MPEG-21
MPEG-21 is a multimedia framework addressing the management and exchange of digital media and related rights. Its scope includes intellectual-property management and protection concepts and seeks to provide a common architecture for interactions among content, users, and delivery systems.
Adaptive media delivery · 2012
MPEG-DASH
MPEG-DASH standardizes dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP. It describes media presentation information and segment formats so that a client can select among encoded representations as bandwidth and device conditions change. The approach supports scalable internet delivery without requiring a specialized transport protocol for every media service.
Video coding · 2013
HEVC/H.265
High Efficiency Video Coding was developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding, a joint MPEG and ITU-T effort. Standardized as MPEG-H Part 2 and H.265, HEVC was designed to achieve roughly half the data rate of H.264 at comparable visual quality, supporting higher-resolution video and more efficient distribution.
Video coding · 2020
VVC/H.266
Versatile Video Coding was developed by the Joint Video Experts Team and completed in 2020. Associated with MPEG-I Part 3 and ITU-T H.266, it is intended to provide another substantial efficiency improvement over HEVC while addressing demanding uses such as high-resolution, immersive, and next-generation video.
Genomic information representation · 2019
MPEG-G
MPEG-G applies MPEG standardization methods to genomic information. The family covers areas including transport and storage, coding, metadata, application programming interfaces, reference software, conformance, and annotations, extending MPEG's remit beyond conventional audiovisual media.
Brand decisions
2020
Restructure the former MPEG Working Group 11StrategyBackground
ISO/IEC SC 29 reorganized the structure through which MPEG technical work was coordinated. The change followed the retirement of long-serving convenor Leonardo Chiariglione and divided former MPEG activities among specialized groups.
Action taken
The former Working Group 11 activities were distributed across three advisory groups and seven working groups covering coordination, liaison, quality assessment, requirements, systems, video, joint video coding, audio, 3D graphics, and genomic coding.
Aftermath
MPEG continued as a coordinated technical ecosystem under SC 29 rather than as a single group with the earlier Working Group 11 structure.
2020
Move standards meetings online during the COVID-19 pandemicOtherBackground
Physical meetings of international standards groups were broadly disrupted after early 2020, following MPEG's 129th meeting in Brussels.
Action taken
MPEG held subsequent meetings as online teleconferences, beginning with its 130th meeting in April 2020.
Aftermath
Remote meetings continued for a period, with hybrid and in-person participation returning from 2022.
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