Institute for Telecommunication Sciences / October 1997

October 1997: First VQEG Meeting

On October 14, 1997 the Video Quality Exerts Group (VQEG) held its first meeting, hosted by the telecommunication laboratory CSELT in Turin, Italy. VQEG was created by members of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to focus on the complex and multi-disciplinary field of video quality. Video had become increasingly important as a form of telecommunications, and it was clear that compression of digital video would present new challenges, different from those of television. ITS staff were instrumental in the creation of this group and have participated continuously since its inception. An ITS staff member co-chairs VQEG with an industry representative, and ITS hosts the VQEG website (www.vqeg.org).

VQEG is open to all interested parties, and members represent government, industry, and academia. There are no fees or membership applications and no invitations are needed to participate in VQEG meetings of international experts or subscribe to VQEG email lists. Much of the group’s work has been dedicated to improving and standardizing subjective and objective methods for analyzing video quality. Over the last 20 years the ecosystem has changed dramatically. Multi-media is now pervasive on all devices and methods of distribution from broadcast to cellular data networks. This shift has led the membership of VQEG to move from focusing its expertise on the visual (no-audio) quality of video to developing, defining and deploying methods and tools for the assessment of Quality of Experience (QoE).