John Watkinson is an independent international consultant in advanced applications of electronics to audiovisual and avionics systems. He is a Fellow of the AES, a member of the Society of Expert Witnesses, and the British Computer Society and is a chartered information systems practitioner. He presents lectures, seminars and training courses worldwide. He is the author of many other Elsevier books, including The Art of DigitalVideo, An Introduction to Digital Video, Convergence in Broadcast and Communications Media, Television Fundamentals and The Art of the Helicopter.

• Chapter 1: Introduction to compression; Chapter 2: Fundamentals; Chapter 3: Processing for compression; Chapter 4: Audio compression; Chapter 5: MPEG video compression; Chapter 6: Program and Transport; Chapter 7: Uses of MPEG.

"As with all John Watkinson books, the present one is a classic example of an excellent engineering textbook. It deserves to be on the bookshelf of every broadcaster involved in new coding technologies." - EBU Technical Review Reviews of the Previous Edition: "No book can claim to be a definitive book on a given technology. Technologies develop too fast. This book, however, deserves to be acclaimed as the definitive book on general MPEG aspects." The EBU Technical Review "...a thorough and very lucid introduction to audio and video compression. Through the use of simple, clear diagrams and some of the clearest technical writing I have come across, Watkinson makes the whole process look remarkably straightforward...an absorbing read for the curious, and a useful source of hard information for those with a professional interest." Electronics Australia