MPEG-4 high-efficiency AAC coding [Standards in a Nutshell]

The name MPEG-4 high-efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) refers to a family of recent audio coders that was developed by the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) by subsequent extension of the established Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) architecture. These algorithmic extensions facilitate a significant increase in coding efficiency relative to previous standards and other known systems. Thus, they provide a representation for generic audio/music signals that offers high audio quality also to applications limited in transmission bandwidth or storage capacity, such as digital audio broadcasting and wireless music access for cellular phones. This article presents a compact overview of the evolution, technology, and performance of the MPEG-4 HE-AAC coding family.