Thierry Fautier

  1. Are you or have you been an MPEG member?
    Yes, in different companies though Philips & Harmonic for 30 years!
  2. What do you think makes MPEG special?
    This is the single point of standardisation for audio/video/system in the media distribution industry. It is special in the sense it address not only media, but all the broadcast, unicast delivery mechanisms, with ONE unified view.
    What I like with MPEG is it pacing with the market: MPEG2 for SD first digital TV launched in 1995 , MPEG-4 AVC for HD & IPTV launch in 2003, HEVC for OTT streaming & UHD in 2013 and coming VVC in 2020 for all the different use cases from very low bitrates for Mobile video in emerging markets to VR & 8K for Gb/s networks.
  3. What do you think is the most important MPEG impact?
    Single standard for storage media and broadcast in 1992 and after. This has evolved to unicast delivery with MPEG DASH.
  4. Do you think MPEG is a good conduit for research?
    Yes, as all researchers on the planet can exchange and more important be challenged by their peers. This is what makes MPEG unique, and of course all based on experiments results, not only theoretical discussions like in many other SDOs.
  5. Can you comment on your MPEG experience?
    I have started in 1991 with MPEG-1. At that time this was a crazy project with only tens of people in the room. Then we got the attention of broadcast industry and the MPEG-2 adventure got started. This has been a very pleasant ride. We all should be grateful to have Leonardo Chiariglione, our godfather, to have created such an ecosystem.
  6. Are you happy with MPEG standards?
    Yes but not happy with the way licensing is handled outside of MPEG. We have escaped the disaster with AVC, under the VC-1 threat, and currently suffering the HEVC licensing “situation” let us see if AV1 can improve the current situation. For VVC, we now have MC-IF talking the bull by the horns.
  7. Do you think MPEG standards are the right choice?
    Yes provided it can be licensed, see HEVC situation.
  8. What do you expect from MPEG in the future?
    Included the licensability of the technology in the definition of a new standard. This is hard, but critical. VVC seems to be on the right track, we shall see.

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