Method and apparatus for encapsulating and parsing a media file having split samples

Abstract

Encapsulating a bitstream of media data into a media file, the bitstream comprising at least one sub-bitstream that comprises a contiguous or non-contiguous sequence of bytes. A track comprising a sequence of samples is generated, each sample comprising media data of the bitstream associated with a single time. Descriptive metadata describing the bitstream is then generated, the descriptive metadata comprises at least one item of information describing the sub-bitstream. The item of information represents a property or a configuration characterising the sub-bitstream. The media file is then generated comprising the track and the descriptive metadata. Also disclosed is the equivalent parsing (de-encapsulation) of the media data from the media file and a media file created by the encapsulation process. The sub-bitstream may represent a layer, tile, subpicture, 3D region, operation point or reconstruction point as defined by a multi-layer or multi-codec coding format. It may also correspond to a split-layer that is part of a full sample from a multi-layer or multi-codec bitstream. [Figure 14]