An advanced standard created by MPEG widely used for DVD recordings.

MPEG 2 is an audio-visual compression standard designed for medium to high bandwidth applications, including broadcast (up to HDTV) and DVD. Data rates range from about 4 Mbps up to 100 Mbps. It was not designed as a replacement for MPEG 1 (which still has its uses), but as an addition to MPEG 1.

A generic method for compressed representation of video sequences using a common coding. All DISH Network receivers support MPEG-2.

Compression standards for moving images and audio are set by the Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG), an international committee of industry experts. MPEG-2 is the basis for ATSC digital television transmission in the U.S.

The standard system currently in use mainly in TV companies to compress video data down to a minimum of 10% of its original size. MPEG3 is intended for HDTV and video-on-demand, as then huge amounts of data have to be transmitted. It is today especially used for audio compression: a very high rate of compression can be reached without great loss of quality.