Universal variable length code for DCT coding

A new technique for entropy coding named universal VLC (i.e., UVLC) was developed and applied to the motion vector. It was shown that UVLC for motion vector coding provides good performance in terms of coding efficiency as well as error resiliency. In this paper UVLC for DCT coefficient coding is presented. The features of the scheme are: (1) adaptable by parametric representation, (2) support of very low bitrate mode and (3) extensible to error resilient mode with bi-directionally decodable code. This favors a flexible image and video coding that should handle a variety of picture types and applications. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme slightly outperforms several VLC tables of existing standards in terms of coding efficiency. It is also expected that the proposed scheme can simplify the implementation and processing of VLC decoder. It shall also be noted that UVLC is being considered as a candidate component technique for ITU-T H.26L, i.e., next generation video coding algorithm standard