The MPEG‐2 System Target Decoder Model

The Moving Picture Experts Group‐2 (MPEG‐2) system target decoder (STD) is an essential element of the MPEG‐2 system specification, and serves a variety of purposes. In this chapter, the decoding of access units is described in general terms, without addressing for each specific content format all detailed issues on access units, input buffer sizes and the input and output rates of buffers. For the decoding of MPEG‐2 system streams, two different STDs are defined, the program stream STD (P‐STD) and the transport stream STD (T‐STD), to appropriately address differences in delivery characteristics of both type of system streams. P‐STD and T‐STD are discussed in the second and third section of the chapter. In the fourth section, general constraints applicable to content decoding in the P‐STD and the T‐STD are described, while the last section provides a brief overview of content format‐specific STD issues.