Video compression

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For the physical (horizontal and vertical) compression of displayed film and video, see
anamorphic.

Video compression refers to reducing the quantity of data used to represent digital video
images, and is a combination of spatial image compression and temporal motion
compensation. Video compression is an example of the concept of source coding in
Information theory. This article deals with its applications: compressed video can effectively
reduce the bandwidth required to transmit video via terrestrial broadcast, via cable TV, or via
satellite TV services.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Video quality
 2 Theory
 3 Lossless compression
 4 Intraframe versus interframe compression
 5 Current forms
 6 Timeline
 7 See also
 8 External links
 9 References

Video quality
Most video compression is lossy — it operates on the premise that much of the data present
before compression is not necessary for achieving good perceptual quality. For example,
DVDs use a video coding standard called MPEG-2 that can compress video data by 15 to 30
times, while still producing a picture quality that is generally considered high-quality for
standard-definition video. Video compression is a tradeoff between disk space, video quality,
and the cost of hardware required to decompress the video in a reasonable time. However, if
the video is overcompressed in a lossy manner, visible (and sometimes distracting) artifacts
can appear.

Video compression typically operates on square-shaped groups of neighboring pixels, often

called macroblocks. These pixel groups or blocks of pixels are compared from one frame to
the next and the video compression codec (encode/decode scheme) sends only the differences
within those blocks. This works extremely well if the video has no motion. A still frame of
text, for example, can be repeated with very little transmitted data. In areas of video with
more motion, more pixels change from one frame to the next. When more pixels change, the
video compression scheme must send more data to keep up with the larger number of pixels
that are changing. If the video content includes an explosion, flames, a flock of thousands of
birds, or any other image with a great deal of high-frequency detail, the quality will decrease,
or the variable bitrate must be increased to render this added information with the same level
of detail.

The programming provider has control over the amount of video compression applied to their
video programming before it is sent to their distribution system. DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and
HD DVDs have video compression applied during their mastering process, though Blu-ray
and HD DVD have enough disc capacity that most compression applied in these formats is
light, when compared to such examples as most video streamed on the internet, or taken on a
cellphone. Software used for storing video on hard drives or various optical disc formats will
often have a lower image quality, although not in all cases. High-bitrate video codecs with
little or no compression exist for video post-production work, but create very large files and
are thus almost never used for the distribution of finished videos. Once excessive lossy video
compression compromises image quality, it is impossible to restore the image to its original
quality.

Theory
Video is basically a three-dimensional array of color pixels. Two dimensions serve as spatial
(horizontal and vertical) directions of the moving pictures, and one dimension represents the
time domain. A data frame is a set of all pixels that correspond to a single time moment.
Basically, a frame is the same as a still picture.

Video data contains spatial and temporal redundancy. Similarities can thus be encoded by
merely registering differences within a frame (spatial), and/or between frames (temporal).
Spatial encoding is performed by taking advantage of the fact that the human eye is unable to
distinguish small differences in color as easily as it can perceive changes in brightness, so
that very similar areas of color can be "averaged out" in a similar way to jpeg images (JPEG
image compression FAQ, part 1/2). With temporal compression only the changes from one
frame to the next are encoded as often a large number of the pixels will be the same on a
series of frames.

Lossless compression
Some forms of data compression are lossless. This means that when the data is
decompressed, the result is a bit-for-bit perfect match with the original. While lossless
compression of video is possible, it is rarely used, as lossy compression results in far higher
compression ratios at an acceptable level of quality.

Intraframe versus interframe compression

One of the most powerful techniques for compressing video is interframe compression.
Interframe compression uses one or more earlier or later frames in a sequence to compress
the current frame, while intraframe compression uses only the current frame, which is
effectively image compression.

The most commonly used method works by comparing each frame in the video with the
previous one. If the frame contains areas where nothing has moved, the system simply issues
a short command that copies that part of the previous frame, bit-for-bit, into the next one. If
sections of the frame move in a simple manner, the compressor emits a (slightly longer)
command that tells the decompresser to shift, rotate, lighten, or darken the copy — a longer
command, but still much shorter than intraframe compression. Interframe compression works
well for programs that will simply be played back by the viewer, but can cause problems if
the video sequence needs to be edited.

Since interframe compression copies data from one frame to another, if the original frame is
simply cut out (or lost in transmission), the following frames cannot be reconstructed
properly. Some video formats, such as DV, compress each frame independently using
intraframe compression. Making 'cuts' in intraframe-compressed video is almost as easy as
editing uncompressed video — one finds the beginning and ending of each frame, and simply
copies bit-for-bit each frame that one wants to keep, and discards the frames one doesn't
want. Another difference between intraframe and interframe compression is that with
intraframe systems, each frame uses a similar amount of data. In most interframe systems,
certain frames (such as "I frames" in MPEG-2) aren't allowed to copy data from other frames,
and so require much more data than other frames nearby.

It is possible to build a computer-based video editor that spots problems caused when I
frames are edited out while other frames need them. This has allowed newer formats like
HDV to be used for editing. However, this process demands a lot more computing power
than editing intraframe compressed video with the same picture quality.

Current forms
Today, nearly all commonly used video compression methods (e.g., those in standards
approved by the ITU-T or ISO) apply a discrete cosine transform (DCT) for spatial
redundancy reduction. Other methods, such as fractal compression, matching pursuit and the
use of a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) have been the subject of some research, but are
typically not used in practical products (except for the use of wavelet coding as still-image
coders without motion compensation). Interest in fractal compression seems to be waning,
due to recent theoretical analysis showing a comparative lack of effectiveness to such
methods.[citation needed]

Timeline
The following table is a partial history of international video compression standards.

History of Video Compression Standards

Year Standard Publisher Popular Implementations

1984 H.120 ITU-T

1990 H.261 ITU-T Videoconferencing, Videotelephony

1993 MPEG-1 Part 2 ISO, IEC Video-CD

H.262/MPEG-2 ISO, IEC, DVD Video, Blu-ray, Digital Video Broadcasting,

1995
Part 2 ITU-T SVCD

Videoconferencing, Videotelephony, Video on

1996 H.263 ITU-T
Mobile Phones (3GP)

1999 MPEG-4 Part 2 ISO, IEC Video on Internet (DivX, Xvid ...)

H.264/MPEG-4 ISO, IEC, Blu-ray, Digital Video Broadcasting, iPod Video,

2003
AVC ITU-T HD DVD

See also
 D-frame
 Subjective video quality
 Transcoding
 Video coding
 Video compression picture types
 Video quality
 VC-1
External links
 Videsignline - Intro to Video Compression
 TestVid - 2,000+ HD and other uncompressed source video clips for compression
testing
 Data Compression Basics (Video)
 MPEG 1&2 video compression intro (pdf format)
 HD Greetings - 1080p Uncompressed source material for compression testing and
research
 Wiley - Introduction to Compression Theory
 Video compression 4:2:2 10-bit and its benefits
 Why does 10-bit save bandwidth (even when content is 8-bit)?
  Which compression technology should be used
References

[show]v · d · eData compression methods

Entropy ·Complexity
Theory
·Redundancy ·Lossy

Shannon–Fano ·Shannon–
Fano–Elias ·Huffman
·Adaptive Huffman
Entropy encoding·Arithmetic ·Range ·Golomb
L
·Universal (Gamma ·Exp-
o
Golomb ·Fibonacci
s
·Levenshtein)
s
l
RLE · Byte pair encoding ·
e
DEFLATE · Lempel–Ziv
s
(LZ77/78 ·LZSS ·LZW
s
Dictionary·LZWL ·LZO ·LZMA ·LZX
·LZRW ·LZJB · LZS · LZT ·
ROLZ) · Statistical Lempel
Ziv

CTW ·BWT ·PPM ·DMC

Others
·Delta

Companding ·Convolution
·Dynamic range ·Latency
Theory
·Sampling ·Nyquist–Shannon
theorem ·Sound quality
A
LPC (LAR ·LSP) ·WLPC
u
·CELP ·ACELP ·A-law ·μ-law
d
Audio codec parts·ADPCM ·DPCM ·MDCT
i
·Fourier transform
o
·Psychoacoustic model

Bit rate (CBR ·ABR ·VBR)

Others·Speech compression ·Sub-band
coding

I Color space ·Pixel ·Chroma

m Termssubsampling ·Compression
a artifact ·Image resolution
g
e MethodsRLE ·Fractal ·Wavelet ·EZW
·SPIHT ·LP ·DCT ·Chain
 code ·KLT

Test images ·PSNR quality

Others
measure ·Quantization

Video characteristics ·Frame

·Frame rate ·Interlace ·Frame
Terms
types ·Video quality ·Video
V resolution
i
d Motion compensation ·DCT
Video codec parts
e ·Quantization
o
Video codecs ·Rate distortion
Otherstheory ·Bit rate (CBR ·ABR
·VBR)

Timeline of information theory, data compression, and error-correcting codes

See Compression formats for formats and Compression software implementations for
codecs

[show]v · d · eMultimedia compression and container formats

MJPEG ·Motion JPEG 2000

·MPEG-1 ·MPEG-2 (Part 2)
ISO/IEC
·MPEG-4 (Part 2/ASP ·Part
10/AVC) ·HEVC

H.120 ·H.261 ·H.262 ·H.263 ·

ITU-T
V H.264 · HEVC
i
d AVS ·Bink ·CineForm
e ·Cinepak ·Dirac ·DV ·Indeo
o ·Microsoft Video 1 ·OMS
Video ·Pixlet ·RealVideo
Others·RTVideo ·SheerVideo
·Smacker ·Sorenson Video &
Sorenson Spark ·Theora ·VC-1
·VC-2 ·VC-3 ·VP3 ·VP6 ·VP7
·VP8 ·WMV

A MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) ·MPEG-

u 1 Layer II (Multichannel) ·MPEG-
d 1 Layer I ·AAC ·HE-AAC ·MPEG
i ISO/IEC
Surround ·MPEG-4 ALS ·MPEG-4
o SLS ·MPEG-4 DST ·MPEG-4
HVXC ·MPEG-4 CELP

ITU-TG.711 ·G.718 ·G.719 ·G.722

·G.722.1 ·G.722.2 ·G.723 ·G.723.1
 ·G.726 ·G.728 ·G.729 ·G.729.1

AC-3 ·AMR ·AMR-WB ·AMR-

WB+ ·Apple Lossless ·ATRAC
·CELT ·DRA ·DTS ·EVRC
·EVRC-B ·FLAC ·GSM-HR
·GSM-FR ·GSM-EFR ·iLBC ·iSAC
·Monkey's Audio ·TTA (True
OthersAudio) ·MT9 ·A-law ·μ-law
·Musepack ·Nellymoser
·OptimFROG ·OSQ ·QCELP
·RealAudio ·RTAudio ·SD2 ·SHN
·SILK ·Siren ·SMV ·Speex
·SVOPC ·TwinVQ ·VMR-WB
·Vorbis ·WavPack ·WMA

JPEG ·JPEG 2000 ·JPEG

XR ·lossless JPEG ·JBIG
ISO/IEC/ITU-T
I ·JBIG2 ·PNG ·TIFF/EP
m ·TIFF/IT
a
g APNG ·BMP ·DjVu ·EXR
e ·GIF ·ICER ·ILBM ·MNG
Others
·PCX ·PGF ·TGA ·QTVR
·TIFF ·WBMP ·WebP

MPEG-PS ·MPEG-TS ·ISO

base media file format ·MPEG-
ISO/IEC
4 Part 14 ·Motion JPEG 2000
C ·MPEG-21 Part 9
o
n ITU-TH.222.0 ·T.802
t
a 3GP and 3G2 ·AMV ·ASF
i ·AIFF ·AVI ·AU ·Bink ·DivX
n Media Format ·DPX ·EVO
e ·Flash Video ·GXF ·M2TS
r Others·Matroska ·MXF ·Ogg
s ·QuickTime File Format
·RealMedia ·REDCODE RAW
·RIFF ·Smacker ·MOD and
TOD ·VOB ·WAV ·WebM

See Compression methods for methods and Compression software implementations for
codecs
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_compression"
Categories: Film and video technology | Digital television | Data compression | Video
compression | Videotelephony
Hidden categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2007 | All articles lacking
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