According to Agfa Monotype, the inclusion of OpenType and MicroType Express marks the first time that either a font format or a font compression technology has been introduced in an MPEG standard. Consequently, authors and content developers now have an MPEG solution for text and font streaming for applications such as interactive TV programming and video presentations that contain computer-animated graphics, text and natural images. The technologies are specified in the ISO/IEC document 14496-18, "Font Compression and Streaming."
Agfa Monotype says that its MicroType Express font compression technology is intended for embedded applications that operate with OpenType or TrueType fonts, and is designed to reduce memory and bandwidth usage of font data storage and transmission in resource-constrained environments. The technology allows for the rendering of glyphs directly from compressed font tables without decompressing the whole font, enabling quick, high-quality generation of characters.
OpenType is based on the Unicode character-encoding standard for multilingual digital information exchange. It is said to support advanced typographic capabilities including contextual character substitution in complex scripts such as Arabic and Indic, and the automatic insertion of ligatures and swashes when entering text.
Agfa Monotype says it also offers a range of technologies that support OpenType, such as the iType font engine and WorldType Layout Engine, a technology for composing, positioning and rendering text in multiple languages. Unicode-conformant fonts are also available, as well as typefaces that meet the MPEG-4 requirement for metric compatibility with the Arial, Courier and Times New Roman fonts in the Microsoft Windows operating systems.
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