Dependent Quantization for Scalable Video Coding

Quantization in video coding plays an important role in controlling the bitrate of compressed bitstreams to adjust with the allowed bandwidth of delivery networks and storage. Since scalable video coding (SVC) being currently standardized exhibits highly dependent coding nature not only between frames but also in the lower and higher layers, we propose a dependent quantization scheme for SVC and compare its performance in visual qualities and bitrates with the current technique in JSVM reference software. The experimental results show that the dependent quantization outperforms the current technique in JSVM reference software with 0.5 ~ 1.25 dB PSNR increment or 5 ~ 20% bits saving for the enhancement layer of SVC.