Rate-distortion optimal video summarization: a dynamic programming solution

The need for video summarization originates primarily from a viewing time constraint. A shorter version of the original video sequence is desirable in a number of applications. Clearly, a shorter version is also necessary in applications where storage, communication bandwidth and/or power are limited. Our work is based on a temporal rate-distortion optimization formulation for optimal summary generation. New metrics for video summary distortion are introduced. Optimal algorithms based on dynamic programming are presented along with the results from heuristic algorithms that can produce near optimal results in real time.