This document discusses video coding and compression technologies. It provides an overview of lossy and lossless compression techniques and describes past, present and future video compression standards like H.261, MPEG-2, H.264 and H.265. While resolution capabilities continue to increase with technologies like 4K, the document argues that video compression is still needed due to limitations in bandwidth availability and the large sizes of uncompressed video.

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Video Coding: Current and Next Generation
Stefan Slivinski
Distinguished Engineer
Lifesize Communications

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Overview
Video Coding – Past, Present and Future
“Pretty Soon We Wont Need Video Compression”

3. Video Compression
Past, Present and Future

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Types of Compression
Lossless
•Original information is recoverable
Lossy
•Information is lost
Not specific to Video Compression

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Lossy Video Compression
Incapable of seeing high details
More sensitive to light than it is to color
can only fully perceive about 15fps
Exploiting the limitations of the human visual system

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Video Compression
Spatial compression
Temporal compression
Discrete cosine transform (DCT)
Quantization (lossy)
Entropy coding
It’s all pretty similar

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Video Compression
Macroblocks
Spatial and Temporal
Quantization
Entropy coding
Past
H.261 (1988)
MPEG-2 (1995)
H.263 (1996)
MPEG4 Part 2 (1999)

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Video Compression
Multiple intra prediction modes
Up to 16 motion vectors per macroblock
4x4 and 8x8 fixed point transform
Multiple block sizes include non- square blocks
Adaptive Inloop deblocking filter
Arithmetic entropy encoding
Halfpel and quarterpel pixel interpolation
Present
H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC (2003)

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Video Compression
Very large block sizes (up to 64x64)
4 transforms sizes 4x4, 8x8, 16x16, 32x32)
coding tree units (CTU)
Parallel processing tools adapted to multicore or hardware architectures
Bit depths beyond 10bit, full chroma (unsubsampled)
Future
H.265 (2013)

10. “Pretty Soon We Won’t Need Video Compression”
--some guy I saw at a trade show

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Need to answer 3 questions
How much resolution is enough?
How much compression is enough?
How much bandwidth is enough?

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How much resolution is enough?

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How much resolution is enough
The average human eye can resolve 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at a distance of 12 inches
The first retina iPhone (iPhone 4) had 326ppi
A 60” 4K television
•Has a ~73 ppi
•THX recommended viewing distance of 6-9’
•At 6’ the average human can resolve 40 ppi
•You would need to sit at a distance of 3.25’ (39 inches) or closer to see all 73 ppi

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How much bandwidth / Compression is enough?

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Availability of bandwidth
20-30mbps in developed world
Developing World much further behind

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Video Compression
4Kp30 bandwidth
•H.265: 2-4mbps
•H.264: 4-8mbps
•MPEG4: 8-16mbps
Video Communication Content

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How big is uncompressed video?
4Kp30
•3840 x 2160 @ 30fps @ 422
•3.9 gbps uncompressed
720p60
•1280x720, 60 fps @ 422
•844 mbps uncompressed
CIF resolution
•352 x 288 @ 30fps @ 422
•48.6 mbps uncompressed
QCIF resolution
•176 x 144 @ 30fps @ 422
•~12 mbps uncompressed

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Conclusion
Television resolution peaking
Bandwidth still poor
Compression peaking in developed world

19. Questions?