For the binary representation of a description corresponding to an extended description scheme, the same principles as in the MPEG-7 binary format could in principle be used, however, the resulting binary format is different from the binary format of the original MPEG-7 description scheme, even for the identical parts of both description schemes. Means and method are provided for user or application specific extension of the binary format, where the binary format of that part of the description schemes, which is common to both the original MPEG-7 description scheme and the extended description scheme, is preserved.