<p>I take the references from Tektronix seriously in my daily work.</p>
<p><a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00CX241PS" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Amazon</a> has a 48-page magazine-sized technical booklet from this company or you could download it from <a href="http://www.img.lx.it.pt/%7Efp/cav/Additional_material/MPEG2_overview.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this link</a></p>
<p>Of course, this company has <a href="https://www.tek.com/en/search?facets=_templatename=Marketing%20Document&amp;keywords=mpeg-2%20mpeg-4%20264&amp;sort=desc&amp;page=2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">other references</a> as well</p>
<p>And don't miss out the posters <a href="https://www.tek.com/poster/mpeg-poster-atsc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> and <a href="https://www.tek.com/poster/mpeg-poster-dvb" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-04T10:10:55.113Z
2023-01-20T11:30:54.030Z
2023-01-20T11:30:54.030Z
xer-rex
<p>The primary audience of MPEG video stream standards is developers of encoders, decoders, players, editors..etc so they won't be expected to have material <em>teaching the production community</em>, by which I assume you mean creatives or those working directly with creatives.</p>

<p><em>profiles and levels</em></p>

<p>This is specific to each codec, but in general, profile defines the set of encoding methods that an encoder may use e.g. macroblock partitioning, which in turn, defines the capabilities required of the decoder. Their definitions are motivated by various classes of target applications e.g. VoIP, editing, playback on a low-power device but it is upto industry to evolve usage guidelines. See this preface to the Profiles/Levels section within the AVC SPEC (14496-10):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>This subclause does not form an integral part of this Recommendation |
  International Standard.  This Recommendation | International Standard
  is designed to be generic in the sense that it serves a wide range of 
  applications, bit rates, resolutions, qualities, and services.
  Applications should cover, among other things, digital storage  media,
  television broadcasting and real-time communications.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, don't expect to find a normative guide from a standards body.</p>

<p><em>bitrate and quality correlation</em></p>

<p>There isn't one. An efficient encoder will deliver a better quality for a given bitrate target than an inefficient one. In general, a well-engineered encoder will deliver better quality higher the bitrate, if keeping all syntax elements the same, as well encoder-specific coding algorithms (motion estimation, deblocking loops)..etc.</p>

<p><em>container format usage</em></p>

<p>Not the purview of the codec standards body. Containers come and go, and are designed by others. Again, it's upto the industry e.g. H.264/AVC is usually stored without in-band parameter sets in a MP4, but can be stored with them present. It's upto the "application".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T07:27:43.800Z
2019-12-09T07:27:43.800Z
Gyan
<p><strong>part 1 of the answer</strong></p>
<p>Usually, it's the encoder software producer that provides usage guideline documents on codec parameters.</p>
<p>The general idea (workflow) is that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the standard developers, hardware and software developers, and patent holders gather together to produce a standard, and develop coders (software, hardware, media boxes) that're interoperable with each other.</p>
</li>
<li><p>the <strong>media platforms</strong> (TV stations, video sharing websites, cinema, etc.) <strong>sets requirements and specifications</strong> for deliverables, based on their technical capability and financial budget, (sometimes also technical experiments they carry out for signal quality assessment).</p>
</li>
<li><p>the creative people <strong>follows the specifications</strong> for deliverables and sets the parameters in their encoder accordingly.</p>
</li>
<li><p>the consumers watches your movies.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The OP had an implicit premise that it's the creative people that sets the requirements and the specifications for themselves. This is true majority of the time nowadays, as indie movies are delivered less formally than their commercial and professional counterparts.</p>
<p>This is why coders (FOSS, commercial, and proprietary) provides presets and documents for codec parameters, to save creative people the time that media platforms had already taken to assess and set coding specifications.</p>
<hr/>
<p><strong>part 2 of the answer</strong></p>
<p>The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recommendations on profiles, levels, and bitrates of codecs. I found these one year after asking this, downloaded the PDFs, and forgot them until today.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BT/en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BT</a> (Broadcasting Service (Television)) has the following recommendation(s):</p>
<ul>
<li><p>ITU-R BT.1737 <em>Use of the ITU-T Recommendation <strong>H.264 (MPEG-4/AVC)</strong> video source-coding method to transport <strong>high definition TV</strong> programme material</em></p>
</li>
<li><p>ITU-R BT.1870 <em>Video coding for digital television broadcasting emission</em></p>
</li>
<li><p>ITR-R BT.2073 <em>Use of the <strong>high efficiency video coding (HEVC)</strong> standard for <strong>UHDTV and HDTV</strong> broadcasting</em></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The <a href="https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BS/en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BS</a> (Broadcasting Service (Sound)) has the following recommendation(s):</p>
<ul>
<li>ITU-R BS.1196 <em>Audio coding for digital broadcasting</em></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-19T04:24:36.560Z
2023-01-20T12:52:30.110Z
2023-01-20T12:52:30.110Z
DannyNiu
<p>I'm looking for some official (or semi-official) sources for using MPEG codecs. The official standards specify syntax and semantics for code streams, and do little job teaching the production community anything useful about what they specify. </p>

<p>Does there exist some kind of leaflets or brochures, from the MPEG work group (or a member from the WG), intended for production professionalists, the possibly include explanation for 1) profiles and levels, 2) bitrate and quality correlation, and 3) container format usage. </p>

<mpeg>
Leaflets or brochures for MPEG codecs
DannyNiu
# Leaflets or brochures for MPEG codecs

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-09)

I'm looking for some official (or semi-official) sources for using MPEG codecs. The official standards specify syntax and semantics for code streams, and do little job teaching the production community anything useful about what they specify.

Does there exist some kind of leaflets or brochures, from the MPEG work group (or a member from the WG), intended for production professionalists, the possibly include explanation for 1) profiles and levels, 2) bitrate and quality correlation, and 3) container format usage.

**Tags:** mpeg


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-09-04. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

I take the references from Tektronix seriously in my daily work.

[Amazon](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00CX241PS) has a 48-page magazine-sized technical booklet from this company or you could download it from [this link](http://www.img.lx.it.pt/%7Efp/cav/Additional_material/MPEG2_overview.pdf)

Of course, this company has [other references](https://www.tek.com/en/search?facets=_templatename=Marketing%20Document&keywords=mpeg-2%20mpeg-4%20264&sort=desc&page=2) as well

And don't miss out the posters [here](https://www.tek.com/poster/mpeg-poster-atsc) and [here](https://www.tek.com/poster/mpeg-poster-dvb)


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-12-09. Score: 0

The primary audience of MPEG video stream standards is developers of encoders, decoders, players, editors..etc so they won't be expected to have material *teaching the production community*, by which I assume you mean creatives or those working directly with creatives.

*profiles and levels*

This is specific to each codec, but in general, profile defines the set of encoding methods that an encoder may use e.g. macroblock partitioning, which in turn, defines the capabilities required of the decoder. Their definitions are motivated by various classes of target applications e.g. VoIP, editing, playback on a low-power device but it is upto industry to evolve usage guidelines. See this preface to the Profiles/Levels section within the AVC SPEC (14496-10):

> This subclause does not form an integral part of this Recommendation |
> International Standard. This Recommendation | International Standard
> is designed to be generic in the sense that it serves a wide range of
> applications, bit rates, resolutions, qualities, and services.
> Applications should cover, among other things, digital storage media,
> television broadcasting and real-time communications.

So, don't expect to find a normative guide from a standards body.

*bitrate and quality correlation*

There isn't one. An efficient encoder will deliver a better quality for a given bitrate target than an inefficient one. In general, a well-engineered encoder will deliver better quality higher the bitrate, if keeping all syntax elements the same, as well encoder-specific coding algorithms (motion estimation, deblocking loops)..etc.

*container format usage*

Not the purview of the codec standards body. Containers come and go, and are designed by others. Again, it's upto the industry e.g. H.264/AVC is usually stored without in-band parameter sets in a MP4, but can be stored with them present. It's upto the "application".


---

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-01-19. Score: -1

**part 1 of the answer**

Usually, it's the encoder software producer that provides usage guideline documents on codec parameters.

The general idea (workflow) is that:

* the standard developers, hardware and software developers, and patent holders gather together to produce a standard, and develop coders (software, hardware, media boxes) that're interoperable with each other.
* the **media platforms** (TV stations, video sharing websites, cinema, etc.) **sets requirements and specifications** for deliverables, based on their technical capability and financial budget, (sometimes also technical experiments they carry out for signal quality assessment).
* the creative people **follows the specifications** for deliverables and sets the parameters in their encoder accordingly.
* the consumers watches your movies.

The OP had an implicit premise that it's the creative people that sets the requirements and the specifications for themselves. This is true majority of the time nowadays, as indie movies are delivered less formally than their commercial and professional counterparts.

This is why coders (FOSS, commercial, and proprietary) provides presets and documents for codec parameters, to save creative people the time that media platforms had already taken to assess and set coding specifications.

---

**part 2 of the answer**

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recommendations on profiles, levels, and bitrates of codecs. I found these one year after asking this, downloaded the PDFs, and forgot them until today.

The [BT](https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BT/en) (Broadcasting Service (Television)) has the following recommendation(s):

* ITU-R BT.1737 *Use of the ITU-T Recommendation **H.264 (MPEG-4/AVC)** video source-coding method to transport **high definition TV** programme material*
* ITU-R BT.1870 *Video coding for digital television broadcasting emission*
* ITR-R BT.2073 *Use of the **high efficiency video coding (HEVC)** standard for **UHDTV and HDTV** broadcasting*

The [BS](https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BS/en) (Broadcasting Service (Sound)) has the following recommendation(s):

* ITU-R BS.1196 *Audio coding for digital broadcasting*


---

