Overview
ISO/IEC 23090-13:2024 - Information technology - Coded representation of immersive media - Part 13: Video decoding interface for immersive media - specifies standardized interfaces and operations for a video decoding engine (VDE) used with immersive media. The standard defines how media and elementary streams, decoder instances and related metadata are fed, managed and exposed through an input video decoding interface (IVDI) and an output video decoding interface (OVDI). Where needed for codec support, the document also specifies SEI (Supplemental Enhancement Information) messages.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Video decoding engine (VDE) architecture: roles for input formatting, decoder instances, composition memory and compositor; management of decoded sequences and synchronization.
- Input/Output interfaces: definitions of the IVDI and OVDI for passing media streams (aggregated or partial elementary streams) into the VDE and delivering decoded output to the rendering pipeline.
- Elementary streams & media streams: semantics for media streams, elementary streams (ES), access units (AU), video objects and video object identifiers used for filtering, insertion, appending and stacking operations.
- Control interface: an IDL-based control interface (Annex A) to control VDE functions and query capabilities.
- Codec and instantiation constraints: slice- and layer-based instantiations for codecs referenced in the document (e.g., HEVC - ISO/IEC 23008-2, VVC - ISO/IEC 23090-3, EVC - ISO/IEC 23094-1) and related media/elementary stream constraints.
- SEI message syntax: normative SEI syntax and semantics when required for specific codecs (Annex C).
- Platform mappings and examples: informative mappings to existing integration layers and APIs such as OpenMAX IL and Vulkan Video, plus example input formatting operations and MSE mapping (Annexes B, D, E, F).
Applications and who uses it
- Silicon and SoC vendors implementing hardware VDEs to expose standardized decoding capabilities to software stacks.
- Media player and renderer developers (desktop, mobile, VR/AR, immersive media players) for consistent integration of hardware decoders.
- Streaming and OTT platforms delivering immersive video formats that require interoperable decoder interfaces and metadata handling.
- Middleware/API designers and browser engine teams implementing standardized decoder bindings (e.g., mappings shown for OpenMAX IL, Vulkan Video, MSE).
- Standards and testing organizations validating compliance, interoperability and patent-aware implementations.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO/IEC 23090-13:2024, video decoding interface, immersive media, VDE, IVDI, OVDI, elementary streams, SEI messages, HEVC, VVC, EVC, OpenMAX, Vulkan Video.