The MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF), a non-profit consortium dedicated to promoting the MPEG technical standards, is shutting down after nearly 12 years of operation.
“We have ‘declared victory’ and the activities of the MPEG Industry Forum are now being wound up,” the group wrote in a statement. “By the end of this month all remaining assets will be put into the hands of the Open IPTV Forum where you can access these through the online site.”
The forum began in June 2000 at a time of great fragmentation in the video industry. The group was involved in the promotion of MPEG-4, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MPEG-7 and MPEG-21. It also developed MPEG certification for products, organized educational events and collaborated on development of new MPEG standards.
The group also provided a place to exchange information and views on technological, economic and regulatory issues that were relevant to the standards. It provided an authoritative industry voice advocating the adoption of standards and consolidating the direction of the industry in the time of transition from analog to digital television and media services.
The group’s current president is David Price of Ericsson. The current chairman is Prof. Sebastian Moeritz of St. Petersburg University, while the sitting board members include Dr. Yuval Fisher of RGB Networks and Dr. Sean McCarthy of Motorola.
With more than 2,500 people subscribed to its mailing lists, the group also provided interoperability testing, a conformance program and has supported over 50 international trade shows and conferences each year.
