A graphics and video lossy compression algorithm standard that is based on MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 and Apple QuickTime technology. Wavelet-based MPEG-4 files are smaller than JPEG or QuickTime files, so they are designed to transmit video and images over a narrower bandwidth and can mix video with text, graphics and 2-D and 3-D animation layers. Wavelet technology can compress color images at rates of 20:1 up to 300:1 and grayscale images at 20:1 to 50:1. MPEG-4 was standardized in October 1998 in the ISO/IEC document 14496.
Also see MPEG.
