This document specifies how tests can be designed to verify whether compressed data and decoders meet requirements specified by ISO/IEC 14496-3. Encoders are not addressed specifically. An ISO/IEC 14496 encoder generates compressed data compliant with the syntactic and semantic bitstream payload requirements specified in ISO/IEC 14496-3.

This document summarises the requirements, cross references them to characteristics, and defines how conformance with them can be tested. Guidelines are given on constructing tests to verify decoder conformance. Some examples of compressed data implemented according to these guidelines are provided as an electronic annex to this document usually together with their uncompressed counterparts (reference waveforms).