MPEG Splicing: A New Standard for Television — SMPTE 312M
Commercial insertion, promo insertion, studio routing, camera switching, tape editing—each of these basic operations involves switching video and audio. We want to continue to perform these operations even as we move from using uncompressed video to using MPEG-2 compressed video, but they are far from trivial. This paper describes the MPEG bitstream constraints required to facilitate switching—or “splicing”—MPEG bit-streams. It also describes the refinements to these constraints that have led to a new standard, SMPTE 312M, Television, Splice Points for MPEG-2 Transport Streams, which specifies bitstream constraints for both seamless and nonseamless splicing. It is ironic that, although splicing is likely the simplest method of switching between MPEG-2 bitstreams, it is probably the most difficult to understand. This paper intends to alleviate the mystery of splicing by explaining the underlying principles clearly so that this simple yet effective technique may be put into wide use throughout the emerging digital television industry.
- Print ISSN
- 0036-1682
- Published
- 1998-11
- Content type
- Original Research
- DOI
- 10.5594/J04376