ISO/IEC 23000-3:2007 specifies a solution for digital photo library applications. It standardizes the packaging of images and associated metadata, enabling interoperable exchange across diverse devices and platforms. The supported metadata include image-acquisition parameters (such as date, time and camera settings), as well as MPEG-7 visual content descriptions. This allows conforming devices to support new content-enhanced functionality such as intelligent browsing, content-based search or automatic categorization.

ISO/IEC 23000-3:2007 makes it possible to

• organize photos into categories based on their content - for example, the people and places depicted, or events taking place in photos;
• perform advanced content-based searches through collections of photos;
• bundle photos and favourite ways to show them, into a single MPEG-4 file;
• link to external resources such as other images (outside the MPEG-4 file) or web-pages.

The major components of ISO/IEC 23000-3:2007 are

• a method to encapsulate a set of JPEG compressed images in an MPEG-4 file;
• concise subsets of MPEG-7 metadata to describe the individual images and the overall collection;
• a method to embed this binary MPEG-7 metadata in the MPEG-4 file.

ISO/IEC 23000-3:2007 is a response to the need for persistent and interoperable linking of digital image collections with metadata in order to support advanced access to content. It offers a flexible solution for applications ranging from consumer digital photography to advertising and e-commerce.