ISO IEC 15938-3-2002 PDF

Full title and description

ISO/IEC 15938-3:2002 — Information technology — Multimedia content description interface — Part 3: Visual. This part of the MPEG‑7 family (Multimedia Content Description Interface) specifies a set of standardized visual description tools (descriptors and description schemes) for images and video, including their syntax, binary representation and semantics to support interoperable description, indexing and retrieval of visual multimedia content.

Abstract

Part 3 defines the visual description tools of MPEG‑7: basic structures and containers, descriptors for color, texture, shape, motion and localization, together with any remaining visual items. For each description tool the standard gives a normative DDL (syntax) specification, a normative binary syntax, and a normative semantic definition of components. The document is organized into clauses that move from terms/abbreviations to grouped visual description tools (clauses 5–11).

General information

• Status: Published (International Standard).
• Publication date: May 2002 (Edition 1, 2002-05).
• Publisher: ISO and IEC (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 — Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information).
• ICS / categories: 35.040.40 (Information technology — Multimedia and hypermedia information systems).
• Edition / version: Edition 1 (2002).
• Number of pages: 175 (main Part 3 document).

Scope

ISO/IEC 15938-3:2002 specifies the set of visual description tools used in MPEG‑7 to describe visual features of still images, image sequences and video. The scope covers definition and normative specification of descriptors and description schemes for color, texture, shape, motion and spatial/temporal localization, plus container and structural tools necessary to combine those descriptors. The part is intended to enable consistent multimedia description, exchange and search across systems and applications.

Key topics and requirements

• Standardized visual descriptors and description schemes (color, texture, shape, edge/region, motion, localization).
• Normative DDL syntax (Description Definition Language) for each descriptor and scheme.
• Normative binary syntax (binary representation / BiM) for compact interchange.
• Normative semantic definitions for all descriptor components to ensure interoperability.
• Basic structures and container tools used to group and locate descriptors within media.
• Extensions and updates introduced via amendments (visual extensions, perceptual 3D shape descriptor, image signature tools, video signature tools).
• Intended support for indexing, search, content-based retrieval, and multimedia metadata exchange.

Typical use and users

Implemented by multimedia systems vendors, search-engine and retrieval researchers, digital library and archive developers, media asset management (MAM) and content-analysis tool developers, and any organization needing interoperable visual metadata for indexing, searching or automatic analysis of images and video. Typical uses include content-based image/video retrieval, automated tagging and feature extraction pipelines, and standardized metadata interchange between platforms.

Related standards

ISO/IEC 15938 is the MPEG‑7 family; related Parts include Part 1 (Systems), Part 2 (Description Definition Language), Part 4 (Audio), Part 5 (Multimedia Description Schemes), Part 6 (Reference Software), Part 7 (Conformance), and other Parts that address profiles, schema and query formats. Part 3 works together with those Parts to provide a complete MPEG‑7 metadata framework.

Keywords

MPEG‑7, ISO/IEC 15938, visual descriptors, content description, multimedia metadata, color descriptor, texture descriptor, shape descriptor, motion descriptor, BiM, DDL, image signature, video signature, Perceptual 3D Shape Descriptor.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO/IEC 15938-3:2002 is the Visual part of the MPEG‑7 suite (Multimedia Content Description Interface). It defines the standardized visual descriptors and description schemes used to describe visual properties of images, image sequences and video.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers the definition, DDL syntax, binary syntax and semantics of visual description tools (color, texture, shape, motion, localization, structural containers) used for interoperable multimedia description, indexing and retrieval. It does not define codecs or media compression formats; instead it defines metadata describing visual content.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Developers of content-based image/video retrieval systems, multimedia metadata and asset-management vendors, researchers in multimedia analysis and indexing, and organizations exchanging standardized visual metadata across systems.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: The base Part 3 document is Edition 1 published in May 2002. The Part has received multiple amendments (visual extensions, Perceptual 3D Shape Descriptor, image signature tools, video signature tools) and the 2002 edition was last reviewed and confirmed by ISO in 2018, so the 2002 edition with its amendments remains the current published edition. Users should check for any further amendments or technical corrigenda applicable to their implementation.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: Yes — it is Part 3 of the ISO/IEC 15938 series (MPEG‑7). The series includes Parts covering systems, DDL, audio descriptors, multimedia description schemes, reference software, conformance testing, profiles, schema and query formats.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: MPEG‑7, visual descriptors, image signature, video signature, Perceptual 3D Shape Descriptor, DDL, BiM, multimedia metadata, content-based retrieval.