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Video Compression

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Handbook of Visual Display Technology

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction as to why video compression is necessary (namely due to technological transmission and storage constraints). After a brief historical overview which sets the context that video compression has been with us since the first television broadcasts, it describes the fundamental compression stages used in contemporary codecs (i.e., entropy coding, domain transforms, and temporal coherence). This chapter also describes how several of these algorithms were chosen due to various limitations and quirks of the human psychovisual system. The chapter concludes with a deeper look at the details of the three main video compression algorithms in use today (MPEG-2, AVC, and VC-1).

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Abbreviations

AVC:

Advanced Video Coding

MPEG:

Moving Picture Experts Group

RGB:

Red, Green, Blue

VC-1:

Video Codec 1

References

  1. ISO/IEC 14496-2 Coding of audio-visual objects -- Part 2: Video

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  2. ISO/IEC 13818-2 Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information, Part 2: Video

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  3. ISO/IEC 14496-10 Coding of audio-visual objects -- Part 10: Advanced Video Coding

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  4. Wiegand T et al (2003) Rate-constrained coder control and comparison of video coding standards. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Video Technol, s.l., July 2003, vol. 13, pp. 688–703

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  5. SMPTE 421M VC-1 Compressed Video Bitstream Format and Decoding Process

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Further Reading

  • Ostermann J et al (2004) Video coding with H.264/AVC: tools, performance, and complexity, vol 1. IEEE Circuits Syst Mag 4:7–28

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  • Wiegand T et al (2003) Overview of the H.264/AVC Video Coding Standard. 7, July 2003. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Video Technol 13:560–576

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  • Janus S (2002) Video in the 21st Century. Intel Press, s.l.

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  • Keith J (2007) Video demystified: a handbook for the digital engineer, 5th ed. Newnes, s.l

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  • Poynton C (1996) A technical introduction to digital video. Wiley, s.l.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Visual and Parallel Computing Group, Intel Corporation, 1900 Prairie City Road, Folsom, 95630, CA

    Scott Janus

Authors
  1. Scott Janus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott Janus .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Janglin Chen

  2. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Wayne Cranton

  3. Veritas et Visus, Texas, USA

    Mark Fihn

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Janus, S. (2012). Video Compression. In: Chen, J., Cranton, W., Fihn, M. (eds) Handbook of Visual Display Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79567-4_24

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