Lossless scalable video coding with H.264 compliant base layer

This paper proposes a two-layered SNR scalable video coding scheme having a lossless enhancement layer. The base bitstream is fully compliant with the H.264 standard, and the enhancement bitstream is derived from the orthogonal transform coefficients of H.264. In enhance bitstream coding, grid points that cannot be used by the original signal are eliminated to optimize the coding efficiency. We also utilize the numerical relationships between the coefficients to accelerate the process. Computer simulation confirms that the intra coding efficiency of proposed method is comparable to that of motion JPEG2000 reversible mode, while inter coding was achieved with bit reductions of 25 to 50%. A base layer optimization strategy is also described that is shown to yield reasonable overall performance.