Concerning inter4v mode employed widely in MPEG-4 video, a new temporal error concealment scheme for MPEG-4 video sequences is proposed, which can selectively interpolate one or four motion vectors （MVs） for the mis...Concerning inter4v mode employed widely in MPEG-4 video, a new temporal error concealment scheme for MPEG-4 video sequences is proposed, which can selectively interpolate one or four motion vectors （MVs） for the missing macroblock （ MB ） according to the estimated MB coding mode. Performance of the proposed scheme is compared with the existing schemes with multiple testing sequences at different bit error rates. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can mask the impairments caused by transmission errors more efficiently than 0 MV and average MV methods by consuming more time for different bit error rates. It has an acceptable image quality close to that obtained by the selective motion vector matching （ SMVM ） algorithm, while taking less than half of cycles of operations. The proposed concealment scheme is suitable for low complexity video real-time implementations.展开更多
Motion estimation is an important part of the MPEG- 4 encoder, due to its significant impact on the bit rate and the output quality of the encoder sequence. Unfortunately this feature takes a significant part of the e...Motion estimation is an important part of the MPEG- 4 encoder, due to its significant impact on the bit rate and the output quality of the encoder sequence. Unfortunately this feature takes a significant part of the encoding time especially when the straightforward full search(FS) algorithm is used. In this paper, a new algorithm named diamond block based gradient descent search (DBBGDS) algorithm, which is significantly faster than FS and gives similar quality of the output sequence, is proposed. At the same time, some other algorithms, such as three step search (TSS), improved three step search (ITSS), new three step search (NTSS), four step search (4SS), cellular search (CS) , diamond search (DS) and block based gradient descent search (BBGDS), are adopted and compared with DBBGDS. As the experimental results show, DBBGDS has its own advantages. Although DS has been adopted by the MPEG- 4 VM, its output sequence quality is worse than that of the proposed algorithm while its complexity is similar to the proposed one. Compared with BBGDS, the proposed algorithm can achieve a better output quality.展开更多
With the development of general-purpose processors (GPP) and video signal processing algorithms, it is possible to implement a software-based real-time video encoder on GPP, and its low cost and easy upgrade attract d...With the development of general-purpose processors (GPP) and video signal processing algorithms, it is possible to implement a software-based real-time video encoder on GPP, and its low cost and easy upgrade attract developers' interests to transfer video encoding from specialized hardware to more flexible software. In this paper, the encoding structure is set up first to support complexity scalability; then a lot of high performance algorithms are used on the key time-consuming modules in coding process; finally, at programming level, processor characteristics are considered to improve data access efficiency and processing parallelism. Other programming methods such as lookup table are adopted to reduce the computational complexity. Simulation results showed that these ideas could not only improve the global performance of video coding, but also provide great flexibility in complexity regulation.展开更多
Frame skipping in low bit video coding could significantly reduce the visual quality of reconstructed video. At the same time, if the complexity of the video sequence remains high for a long period, then driving up th...Frame skipping in low bit video coding could significantly reduce the visual quality of reconstructed video. At the same time, if the complexity of the video sequence remains high for a long period, then driving up the long term average bit rate, the only resort of MPEG-4 Q2 rate control algorithm results in using a high quantization scale, which shows a poor visual quality of the reconstructed video. This paper analyzes the main causes of frame skipping in current MPEG-4 frame rate control scheme, and presents a new rate control algorithm based on the quadratic R-D model over a CBR channel. Key features of the present work are: 1) the bits allocated to each P-frame or B-frame are in proportion to its distance from the end of this GOP, i.e. more bits are allocated to the frames that are nearer to their reference Ⅰ-frame; 2) the target buffer level is changeable in the GOP, at the end of each GOP(five P-frames or B-frames), the target buffer level is linearly reduced from 1/2 to 1/4 of buffer size, to other frames, the target buffer level is set to 1/2 of buffer size; 3) a selective and judicious use of the reduced resolution mode, in addition to a modulation of the quantization scale parameter, is to control the average long term bit rate. Experimental results with different video sequences of varied complexity, encoded at low bit rates show better efficacy of the proposed algorithm than MPEG-4 Q2 rate control scheme, and the experimental results also show that the improved algorithm has significantly reduced the number of frame skipping, increased the overall PSNR, and improved the perceptual quality.展开更多
A Robust Adaptive Video Encoder (RAVE) based on human visual model is proposed. The encoder combines the best features of Fine Granularity Scalable (FGS) coding, framedropping coding, video redundancy coding, and huma...A Robust Adaptive Video Encoder (RAVE) based on human visual model is proposed. The encoder combines the best features of Fine Granularity Scalable (FGS) coding, framedropping coding, video redundancy coding, and human visual model. According to packet loss and available bandwidth of the network, the encoder adjust the output bit rate by jointly adapting quantization step-size instructed by human visual model, rate shaping, and periodically inserting key frame. The proposed encoder is implemented based on MPEG-4 encoder and is compared with the case of a conventional FGS algorithm. It is shown that RAVE is a very efficient robust video encoder that provides improved visual quality for the receiver and consumes equal or less network resource. Results are confirmed by subjective tests and simulation tests.展开更多
An improved FGS (Fine Granular Scalability) coding method is proposed in this letter, which is based on human visual characteristics. This method adjusts FGS coding frame rate according to the evaluation of video sequ...An improved FGS (Fine Granular Scalability) coding method is proposed in this letter, which is based on human visual characteristics. This method adjusts FGS coding frame rate according to the evaluation of video sequences so as to improve the coding efficiency and subject perceived quality of reconstructed images. Finally, a fine granular joint source channel coding is proposed based on the source coding method, which not only utilizes the network resources efficiently, but guarantees the reliable transmission of video information.展开更多
This letter proposes a rate control algorithm for H.264 video encoder, which is based on block activity and buffer state. Experimental results indicate that it has an excellent performance by providing much accurate b...This letter proposes a rate control algorithm for H.264 video encoder, which is based on block activity and buffer state. Experimental results indicate that it has an excellent performance by providing much accurate bit rate and better coding efficiency compared with H.264. The computational complexity of the algorithm is reduced by adopting a novel block activity description method using the Sum of Absolute Difference (SAD) of 16× 16 mode, and its robustness is enhanced by introducing a feedback circuit at frame layer.展开更多
This letter proposes an efficient wavelet-based Fine Granularity Scalable (FGS)coding scheme, where the base layer is encoded with a newly designed wavelet-based coder, and the enhancement layer is encoded with Progre...This letter proposes an efficient wavelet-based Fine Granularity Scalable (FGS)coding scheme, where the base layer is encoded with a newly designed wavelet-based coder, and the enhancement layer is encoded with Progressive Fine Granularity Scalable (PFGS) coding.This algorithm involves multi-frame motion compensation, rate-distortion optimizing strategy with Lagrangian cost function and context-based adaptive arithmetic coding. In order to improve efficiency of the enhancement layer coding, an improved motion estimation scheme that uses both information from the base layer and the enhancement layer is also proposed in this letter. The wavelet-based coder significantly improves the coding efficiency of the base layer compared with MPEG-4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile) and H.26L TML9. The PFGS coding is a significant improvement over MPEG-4 FGS coding at the enhancement layer. Experiments show that single layer coding efficiency gain of the proposed scheme is about 2.0-3.0dB and 0.3-1.0dB higher than that of MPEG-4 ASP and H.26L TML9, respectively. The overall coding efficiency gain of the proposed scheme is about 4.0-5.0dB higher than that of MPEG-4 FGS.展开更多
The new MPEG-4 video coding standard enables content-based functions. In order to support the new standard, frames should be decomposed into Video Object Planes （VOP）, each VOP representing a moving object. This pap...The new MPEG-4 video coding standard enables content-based functions. In order to support the new standard, frames should be decomposed into Video Object Planes （VOP）, each VOP representing a moving object. This paper proposes an image segmentation method to separate moving objects from image sequences. The proposed method utilizes the spatial-temporal information. Spatial segmentation is applied to divide each image into connected areas and to find pre~：ise object boundaries of moving objects. To locate moving objects in image sequences, two consecutive image frames in the temporal direction are examined and a hypothesis testing is performed with Neyman-Pearson criterion. Spatial segmentation produces a spatial segmentation mask, and temporal segmentation yields a change detection mask that indicates moving objects and the background. Then spatial-temporal merging can be used to get the final results. This method has been tested on several images. Experimental results show that this segmentation method is efficient.展开更多
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 60302018).
文摘Concerning inter4v mode employed widely in MPEG-4 video, a new temporal error concealment scheme for MPEG-4 video sequences is proposed, which can selectively interpolate one or four motion vectors （MVs） for the missing macroblock （ MB ） according to the estimated MB coding mode. Performance of the proposed scheme is compared with the existing schemes with multiple testing sequences at different bit error rates. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can mask the impairments caused by transmission errors more efficiently than 0 MV and average MV methods by consuming more time for different bit error rates. It has an acceptable image quality close to that obtained by the selective motion vector matching （ SMVM ） algorithm, while taking less than half of cycles of operations. The proposed concealment scheme is suitable for low complexity video real-time implementations.
文摘Motion estimation is an important part of the MPEG- 4 encoder, due to its significant impact on the bit rate and the output quality of the encoder sequence. Unfortunately this feature takes a significant part of the encoding time especially when the straightforward full search(FS) algorithm is used. In this paper, a new algorithm named diamond block based gradient descent search (DBBGDS) algorithm, which is significantly faster than FS and gives similar quality of the output sequence, is proposed. At the same time, some other algorithms, such as three step search (TSS), improved three step search (ITSS), new three step search (NTSS), four step search (4SS), cellular search (CS) , diamond search (DS) and block based gradient descent search (BBGDS), are adopted and compared with DBBGDS. As the experimental results show, DBBGDS has its own advantages. Although DS has been adopted by the MPEG- 4 VM, its output sequence quality is worse than that of the proposed algorithm while its complexity is similar to the proposed one. Compared with BBGDS, the proposed algorithm can achieve a better output quality.
文摘With the development of general-purpose processors (GPP) and video signal processing algorithms, it is possible to implement a software-based real-time video encoder on GPP, and its low cost and easy upgrade attract developers' interests to transfer video encoding from specialized hardware to more flexible software. In this paper, the encoding structure is set up first to support complexity scalability; then a lot of high performance algorithms are used on the key time-consuming modules in coding process; finally, at programming level, processor characteristics are considered to improve data access efficiency and processing parallelism. Other programming methods such as lookup table are adopted to reduce the computational complexity. Simulation results showed that these ideas could not only improve the global performance of video coding, but also provide great flexibility in complexity regulation.
文摘Frame skipping in low bit video coding could significantly reduce the visual quality of reconstructed video. At the same time, if the complexity of the video sequence remains high for a long period, then driving up the long term average bit rate, the only resort of MPEG-4 Q2 rate control algorithm results in using a high quantization scale, which shows a poor visual quality of the reconstructed video. This paper analyzes the main causes of frame skipping in current MPEG-4 frame rate control scheme, and presents a new rate control algorithm based on the quadratic R-D model over a CBR channel. Key features of the present work are: 1) the bits allocated to each P-frame or B-frame are in proportion to its distance from the end of this GOP, i.e. more bits are allocated to the frames that are nearer to their reference Ⅰ-frame; 2) the target buffer level is changeable in the GOP, at the end of each GOP(five P-frames or B-frames), the target buffer level is linearly reduced from 1/2 to 1/4 of buffer size, to other frames, the target buffer level is set to 1/2 of buffer size; 3) a selective and judicious use of the reduced resolution mode, in addition to a modulation of the quantization scale parameter, is to control the average long term bit rate. Experimental results with different video sequences of varied complexity, encoded at low bit rates show better efficacy of the proposed algorithm than MPEG-4 Q2 rate control scheme, and the experimental results also show that the improved algorithm has significantly reduced the number of frame skipping, increased the overall PSNR, and improved the perceptual quality.
基金Supported by Innovation Fund of China(00C26224210641)
文摘A Robust Adaptive Video Encoder (RAVE) based on human visual model is proposed. The encoder combines the best features of Fine Granularity Scalable (FGS) coding, framedropping coding, video redundancy coding, and human visual model. According to packet loss and available bandwidth of the network, the encoder adjust the output bit rate by jointly adapting quantization step-size instructed by human visual model, rate shaping, and periodically inserting key frame. The proposed encoder is implemented based on MPEG-4 encoder and is compared with the case of a conventional FGS algorithm. It is shown that RAVE is a very efficient robust video encoder that provides improved visual quality for the receiver and consumes equal or less network resource. Results are confirmed by subjective tests and simulation tests.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.90104013) and 863 project(2001AA121061)
文摘An improved FGS (Fine Granular Scalability) coding method is proposed in this letter, which is based on human visual characteristics. This method adjusts FGS coding frame rate according to the evaluation of video sequences so as to improve the coding efficiency and subject perceived quality of reconstructed images. Finally, a fine granular joint source channel coding is proposed based on the source coding method, which not only utilizes the network resources efficiently, but guarantees the reliable transmission of video information.
基金the National Nature Science Foundation of China(No.90104013) 863 Project(No.2002AA119010, 2001AA121061 and 2002AA123041)
文摘This letter proposes a rate control algorithm for H.264 video encoder, which is based on block activity and buffer state. Experimental results indicate that it has an excellent performance by providing much accurate bit rate and better coding efficiency compared with H.264. The computational complexity of the algorithm is reduced by adopting a novel block activity description method using the Sum of Absolute Difference (SAD) of 16× 16 mode, and its robustness is enhanced by introducing a feedback circuit at frame layer.
基金Supported partially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.69973018)and Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(No.99J009)
文摘This letter proposes an efficient wavelet-based Fine Granularity Scalable (FGS)coding scheme, where the base layer is encoded with a newly designed wavelet-based coder, and the enhancement layer is encoded with Progressive Fine Granularity Scalable (PFGS) coding.This algorithm involves multi-frame motion compensation, rate-distortion optimizing strategy with Lagrangian cost function and context-based adaptive arithmetic coding. In order to improve efficiency of the enhancement layer coding, an improved motion estimation scheme that uses both information from the base layer and the enhancement layer is also proposed in this letter. The wavelet-based coder significantly improves the coding efficiency of the base layer compared with MPEG-4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile) and H.26L TML9. The PFGS coding is a significant improvement over MPEG-4 FGS coding at the enhancement layer. Experiments show that single layer coding efficiency gain of the proposed scheme is about 2.0-3.0dB and 0.3-1.0dB higher than that of MPEG-4 ASP and H.26L TML9, respectively. The overall coding efficiency gain of the proposed scheme is about 4.0-5.0dB higher than that of MPEG-4 FGS.
文摘The new MPEG-4 video coding standard enables content-based functions. In order to support the new standard, frames should be decomposed into Video Object Planes （VOP）, each VOP representing a moving object. This paper proposes an image segmentation method to separate moving objects from image sequences. The proposed method utilizes the spatial-temporal information. Spatial segmentation is applied to divide each image into connected areas and to find pre~：ise object boundaries of moving objects. To locate moving objects in image sequences, two consecutive image frames in the temporal direction are examined and a hypothesis testing is performed with Neyman-Pearson criterion. Spatial segmentation produces a spatial segmentation mask, and temporal segmentation yields a change detection mask that indicates moving objects and the background. Then spatial-temporal merging can be used to get the final results. This method has been tested on several images. Experimental results show that this segmentation method is efficient.
