Joint rate control for multi-program video coding

This paper presents a joint coding scheme for multiprogram video transmission. By exploiting the statistical variations of the program content, the joint coding achieves a more optimal bit allocation, which results in a better and more uniform picture quality. The bit allocation strategy assigns the same quantization parameter to all the programs, and the rate control adjusts this quantization parameter from frame to frame so that the aggregate bit rate for the programs is within a given bit budget. The programs are coded using the MPEG-2 video coding standard which inherently generates a variable rate bit stream