Complexity scalable mode-based H.263 video transcoding

While bitrate-reduction video transcoding is a mature research topic, we introduce a new paradigm for the old problem: designing a complexity scalable transcoder where computation can be gracefully traded off with transcoded video quality. Complexity scalability is important when a time-varying number of real-time transcoding sessions must be maintained by the transcoder simultaneously. We present a complexity scalable transcoding algorithm for H.263 based on coding mode transition probabilities. Preliminary results are presented to show potential tradeoffs between computation and transcoded video quality in PSNR.