Pixel domain referenceless visual degradation detection and error concealment for mobile video

In mobile video applications, where unreliable networks are commonplace, corrupted video packets can have a profound impact on the quality of the user experience. In this paper, we show that, in a wide range of operating conditions, selectively reusing data resulting from decodable errorneous packets leads to better results than frame copy. This selection is guided by a novel concept that combines motion estimation and a measure of blocking artifacts at block edges to predict visual degradation caused by the decoding of erroneous packets. Simulation results show that, by using the proposed solution, the H.264/AVC JM reference software decoder can select the best option between frame copy and the erroneous frame decoding in 82% of test cases. We also obtain an average gain of 1.95 dB for concealed frames (when they differ from those concealed by the JM decoder).