Weighted distortion for robust video coding

Conventional motion estimation used in rate-distortion (RD) optimized video coding is formulated for an error-free environment. Special considerations have to be made when transmitting video in lossy networks. In this paper we demonstrate a novel method of weighting the distortion used in RD optimized motion compensated prediction. By determining an appropriate weighting factor, motion vectors are biased towards macroblocks that have less influence on the motion propagation path. We therefore propose tracking the influence that each macroblock has along the motion propagation path to determine the weights. When combined with random Intra Updating considerable performance improvements are unveiled in comparison with state of the art robust video schemes.