H.264 and MPEG-4 Video Compression: Video Coding for Next Generation Multimedia

Iain E. Richardson, Iain E. G. Richardson0-470-84837-5, 9780470848371

Following on from the successful MPEG-2 standard, MPEG-4 Visual is enabling a new wave of multimedia applications from Internet video streaming to mobile video conferencing. The new H.264 ‘Advanced Video Coding’ standard promises impressive compression performance and is gaining support from developers and manufacturers.  The first book to cover H.264 in technical detail, this unique resource takes an application-based approach to the two standards and the coding concepts that underpin them. Presents a practical, step-by-step, guide to the MPEG-4 Visual and H.264 standards for video compression. Introduces the basic concepts of digital video and covers essential background material required for an understanding of both standards. Provides side-by-side performance comparisons of MPEG-4 Visual and H.264 and advice on how to approach and interpret them to ensure conformance. Examines the way that the standards have been shaped and developed, discussing the composition and procedures of the VCEG and MPEG standardisation groups.
Focussing on compression tools and profiles for practical multimedia applications, this book ‘decodes’ the standards, enabling developers, researchers, engineers and students to rapidly get to grips with both H.264 and MPEG-4 Visual.
Dr Iain Richardson leads the Image Communication Technology research group at the Robert Gordon University in Scotland and is the author of over 40 research papers and two previous books on video compression technology.

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Table of contents :
H.264 and MPEG-4 Video
Compression……Page 4
Copyright……Page 5
Contents……Page 8
About the Author……Page 14
Foreword……Page 16
Preface……Page 20
Glossary……Page 22
1.1 THE SCENE……Page 26
1.2 VIDEO COMPRESSION……Page 28
1.3 MPEG- 4 AND H. 264……Page 30
1.4 THIS BOOK……Page 31
1.5 REFERENCES……Page 32
2.2 NATURAL VIDEO SCENES……Page 34
2.3 CAPTURE……Page 35
2.3.2 Temporal Sampling……Page 36
2.4 COLOUR SPACES……Page 38
2.4.1 RGB……Page 39
2.4.2 YCbCr……Page 40
2.4.3 YCbCr Sampling Formats……Page 42
2.5 VIDEO FORMATS……Page 44
2.6 QUALITY……Page 45
2.6.1 Subjective Quality Measurement……Page 46
2.6.2 Objective Quality Measurement……Page 47
2.8 REFERENCES……Page 49
3.1 INTRODUCTION……Page 52
3.2 VIDEO CODEC……Page 53
3.3.2 Changes due to Motion……Page 55
3.3.3 Block- based Motion Estimation and Compensation……Page 57
3.3.4 Motion Compensated Prediction of a Macroblock……Page 58
3.3.5 Motion Compensation Block Size……Page 59
3.3.6 Sub- pixel Motion Compensation……Page 62
3.3.7 Region- based Motion Compensation……Page 66
3.4 IMAGE MODEL……Page 67
3.4.1 Predictive Image Coding……Page 69
3.4.2 Transform Coding……Page 70
3.4.3 Quantisation……Page 76
3.4.4 Reordering and Zero Encoding……Page 81
3.5.1 Predictive Coding……Page 86
3.5.2 Variable- length Coding……Page 87
3.5.3 Arithmetic Coding……Page 94
3.6 THE HYBRID DPCM/ DCT VIDEO CODEC MODEL……Page 97
3.7 CONCLUSIONS……Page 107
3.8 REFERENCES……Page 108
4.2 DEVELOPING THE STANDARDS……Page 110
4.2.1 ISO MPEG……Page 111
4.2.3 JVT……Page 112
4.2.5 Deciding the Content of the Standards……Page 113
4.3 USING THE STANDARDS……Page 114
4.3.2 Decoding the Standards……Page 115
4.3.3 Conforming to the Standards……Page 116
4.4 OVERVIEW OF MPEG- 4 VISUAL/ PART 2……Page 117
4.5 OVERVIEW OF H. 264 / MPEG- 4 PART 10……Page 118
4.6 COMPARISON OF MPEG- 4 VISUAL AND H. 264……Page 119
4.7.2 MPEG- 1 and MPEG- 2……Page 120
4.7.3 H. 261 and H. 263……Page 121
4.8 CONCLUSIONS……Page 122
4.9 REFERENCES……Page 123
5.1 INTRODUCTION……Page 124
5.2.2 Tools, Objects, Pro . les and Levels……Page 125
5.2.3 Video Objects……Page 128
5.3 CODING RECTANGULAR FRAMES……Page 129
5.3.2 The Simple Pro . le……Page 131
5.3.3 The Advanced Simple Pro . le……Page 140
5.3.4 The Advanced Real Time Simple Pro . le……Page 146
5.4 CODING ARBITRARY- SHAPED REGIONS……Page 147
5.4.1 The Core Pro . le……Page 149
5.4.2 The Main Pro . le……Page 158
5.4.3 The Advanced Coding Ef . ciency Pro . le……Page 163
5.4.4 The N- bit Pro . le……Page 166
5.5.1 Spatial Scalability……Page 167
5.5.2 Temporal Scalability……Page 169
5.5.3 Fine Granular Scalability……Page 170
5.5.5 The Core Scalable Pro . le……Page 173
5.6 TEXTURE CODING……Page 174
5.6.2 The Advanced Scalable Texture Pro . le……Page 177
5.7.1 The Simple Studio Pro . le……Page 178
5.8.1 Animated 2D and 3D Mesh Coding……Page 180
5.9 CONCLUSIONS……Page 181
5.10 REFERENCES……Page 182
6.1.1 Terminology……Page 184
6.2 THE H. 264 CODEC……Page 185
6.3.2 Video Format……Page 187
6.3.4 Reference Pictures……Page 188
6.3.6 Macroblocks……Page 189
6.4.1 Overview……Page 190
6.4.2 Reference Picture Management……Page 191
6.4.3 Slices……Page 192
6.4.4 Macroblock Prediction……Page 194
6.4.5 Inter Prediction……Page 195
6.4.6 Intra Prediction……Page 202
6.4.7 Deblocking Filter……Page 209
6.4.8 Transform and Quantisation……Page 212
6.4.9 4 × 4 Luma DC Coef . cient Transform and Quantisation ( 16 × 16Intra- mode Only)……Page 219
6.4.10 2 × 2 Chroma DC Coef . cient Transform and Quantisation……Page 220
6.4.11 The Complete Transform, Quantisation, Rescaling and Inverse Transform Process……Page 221
6.4.13 Entropy Coding……Page 223
6.5.1 B slices……Page 232
6.5.2 Weighted Prediction……Page 236
6.5.4 Context- based Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding ( CABAC)……Page 237
6.6.1 SP and SI slices……Page 241
6.7 TRANSPORT OF H. 264……Page 245
6.9 REFERENCES……Page 247
7.2 FUNCTIONAL DESIGN……Page 250
7.2.2 Motion Estimation……Page 251
7.2.3 DCT/ IDCT……Page 259
7.2.6 Entropy Coding……Page 263
7.3.1 Interfacing……Page 266
7.3.2 Pre- processing……Page 267
7.3.3 Post- processing……Page 268
7.4.1 Criteria……Page 271
7.4.2 Subjective Performance……Page 272
7.4.3 Rate ¨C distortion Performance……Page 276
7.4.4 Computational Performance……Page 279
7.4.5 Performance Optimisation……Page 280
7.5 RATE CONTROL……Page 281
7.6.1 Transport Mechanisms……Page 287
7.6.2 File Formats……Page 288
7.6.3 Coding and Transport Issues……Page 289
7.8 REFERENCES……Page 290
8.2 APPLICATIONS……Page 294
8.4 CHOOSING A CODEC……Page 295
8.5 COMMERCIAL ISSUES……Page 297
8.5.1 Open Standards?……Page 298
8.5.3 Capturing the Market……Page 299
8.6 FUTURE DIRECTIONS……Page 300
8.8 REFERENCES……Page 301
Bibliography……Page 302
Index……Page 304