MPEG-1 Video (Moving Pictures Expert Group)

MPEG-1 is a low compression, highly stable video format which is the standard for use in synchronized depositions. Despite being introduced over 25 years ago, MPEG-1 is still the most widely compatible video format in the world.

When video deposition synchronization first became technologically feasible in early 1990s, MPEG-1 was one of the few stable and widely supported options for video compression.  Since that time all trial presentation software programs have incorporated MPEG-1 as the standard video compression format guaranteed to work.  The original standard compression rate chosen was a resolution of 352 X 240 at a rate that would fit one to two hours of video on a CD (VCD).  CDs were the only viable medium for file transfer due to cost, availability and hardware compatibility.  Thus, videographers and court reporting companies would deliver CDs to the end client.

Today, MPEG-1 is still the standard, but with the advent of DVD discs and encrypted flash storage for delivery of content, compression rates have increased allowing resolutions of 1920 X 1080 or higher of MPEG-1 video fitting on a single DVD.  Problems with Mpeg-1 compression in trial presentation software are rare and typically occur when  the compression rate is set as “variable” instead of “constant”.  Newer higher compression formats, such as MP4 are slowly being incorporated into use and may likely replace the industry reliance on the MPEG-1 format.