Overview of Screen Content Video Coding: Technologies, Standards, and Beyond

This paper presents recent advances in screen content video coding, with an emphasis on two state-of-the-art standards: HEVC/H.265 Screen Content Coding Extensions (HEVC-SCC) by ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group and ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group, and Display Stream Compression (DSC) by Video Electronics Standards Association. The HEVC-SCC enhances the capabilities of HEVC in coding screen content, while DSC provides lightweight compression for display links. Although targeting different application domains, they share some design principles and are expected to become the leading formats in the marketplace in the coming years. This paper provides a brief account of their background, key elements, performance, and complexity characteristics, according to their final specifications. As we survey these standards, we also summarize prior arts in the last decade and explore future research opportunities and standards developments in order to give a comprehensive overview of this field.