Specifies the coded representation of picture information in the form of natural or synthetic visual objects like video sequences of rectangular or arbitrarily shaped pictures, moving 2D meshes, animated 3D face and body models and texture for synthetic objects. The coded representation allows for content based access for digital storage media, digital video communication and other applications. ISO/IEC 14496 specifies also the decoding process of the aforementioned coded representation. The representation supports constant bitrate transmission, variable bitrate transmission, robust transmission, content based random access (including normal random access), object based scalable decoding (including normal scalable decoding), object based bitstream editing, as well as special functions such as fast forward playback, fast reverse playback, slow motion, pause and still pictures. Synthetic objects and coding of special 2D/3D meshes, texture, and animation parameters are provided for use with downloadable models to exploit mixed media and the bandwidth improvement associated with remote manipulation of such models. ISO/IEC 14496 is intended to allow some level of interoperability with ISO/IEC 11172-2:1993, ISO/IEC 13818-2:1996 and ITU-T Recommendation H.263.
