HD-VCR codec for studio application using quadtree structured binary symbols in wavelet transform domain

A hierarchical wavelet transform coding structure which satisfies the requirements of a high definition video cassette recorder (HD-VCR) for studio application in wireless environments is proposed. All of the coefficients in the transformed image are adaptively quantized and hierarchically converted into a single stream or binary symbols using the monotone decreasing property. The resulting bit stream goes through an adaptive arithmetic coder, and two-level control of the bit rate is performed so as to maintain a constant target bit rate. The proposed algorithm can be efficiently implemented with much reduced computing time for the real world application. It is verified by simulation that for a test sequence of images at least 4 dB of PSNR improvement can be achieved compared with other DCT-based schemes at a constant target bit rate, avoiding the blocking effect which would be impossible otherwise.