Video compression techniques

The author discusses video compression techniques with particular emphasis on the discrete cosine transform. The approach taken for the description of the principles is one of numerical example, to illustrate the underlying simplicity of the DCT coding approaches by the avoidance of a rigorous mathematical treatment. Another redundancy reduction technique, that of sub-band coding, is briefly mentioned in the context of the hierarchical concept, which is intended to ensure that a transmitted digital signal is well-suited to a range of receiver environments and technologies. The important issue of quality in low bit-rate television is explained because its variable nature makes it very different from that of current systems