Video coding for HDTV systems

The adoption of MPEG-2 (Motion Pictures Experts Group) by the FCC as the HDTV video compression and transport methodologies laid the foundation for merging multimedia, broadcasting and telecommunication applications. The MPEG-2 video standard, frozen in Nov. 93, supports data rates above 10 Mpbs, real-time transmission, and progressive and interlaced scan sources. This tutorial describes the basic components of an MPEG-2 based HDTV compression system including video formats, color space transformation and decimation, motion estimation and compensation, discrete cosine transform, and variable-length coding. The frame-based and field-based motion estimation schemes required for interlaced scan sources are described in detail. Also discussed is the specific profile and level targeting HDTV application in the MPEG-2 standard.<
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