This book presents a collection of algorithms and VLSI architectures of entropy (or statistical) codecs of recent video compression standards, with focus on the H.264/AVC standard. For any visual data compression scheme, there exists a combination of two, or all of the following three stages: spatial, temporal, and statistical compression. General readers are first introduced with the various algorithms of the statistical coders. The VLSI implementations are also reviewed and discussed. Readers with limited hardware design background are also introduced with a design methodology starting from performance-complexity analyses to software/hardware co-simulation. A typical design of the Contextbased Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) encoder is also presented in details. To support System-on-Chip design environment, the CABAC design is wrapped with a SoC-based Wishbone system bus interface.

H.264 Advanced Video Coding or MPEG-4 Part 10 is fundamental to a growing range of markets such as high definition broadcasting, internet video sharing, mobile video and digital surveillance. This book reflects the growing importance and implementation of H.264 video technology. Offering a detailed overview of the system, it explains the syntax, tools and features of H.264 and equips readers with practical advice on how to get the most out of the standard. Packed with clear examples and illustrations to explain H.264 technology in an accessible and practical way. Covers basic video coding concepts, video formats and visual quality. Explains how to measure and optimise the performance of H.264 and how to balance bitrate, computation and video quality. Analyses recent work on scalable and multi-view versions of H.264, case studies of H.264 codecs and new technological developments such as the popular High Profile extensions. An invaluable companion for developers, broadcasters, system integrators, academics and students who want to master this burgeoning state-of-the-art technology. "[This book] unravels the mysteries behind the latest H.264 standard and delves deeper into each of the operations in the codec. The reader can implement (simulate, design, evaluate, optimize) the codec with all profiles and levels. The book ends with extensions and directions (such as SVC and MVC) for further research." Professor K. R. Rao, The University of Texas at Arlington, co-inventor of the Discrete Cosine Transform

This book provides developers, engineers, researchers and students with detailed knowledge about the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. HEVC is the successor to the widely successful H.264/AVC video compression standard, and it provides around twice as much compression as H.264/AVC for the same level of quality. The applications for HEVC will not only cover the space of the well-known current uses and capabilities of digital video – they will also include the deployment of new services and the delivery of enhanced video quality, such as ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) and video with higher dynamic range, wider range of representable color, and greater representation precision than what is typically found today. HEVC is the next major generation of video coding design – a flexible, reliable and robust solution that will support the next decade of video applications and ease the burden of video on world-wide network traffic. This book provides a detailed explanation of the various parts of the standard, insight into how it was developed, and in-depth discussion of algorithms and architectures for its implementation.

The video coding standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) targets at improved compression performance for video resolutions of HD and beyond, providing Ultra HD video at similar compressed bit rates as for HD video encoded with the well-established video coding standard H.264/AVC. Based on known concepts, new coding structures and improved coding tools have been developed and specified in HEVC. The standard is expected to be taken up easily by established industry as well as new endeavors, answering the needs of todays connected and ever-evolving online world. This book presents the High Efficiency Video Coding standard and explains it in a clear and coherent language. It provides a comprehensive and consistently written description, all of a piece. The book targets at both, newbies to video coding as well as experts in the field. While providing sections with introductory text for the beginner, it suits as a well-arranged reference book for the expert. The book provides a comprehensive reference for the technical details of the employed coding tools; it further outlines the algorithmic advances compared to H.264/AVC. In addition to the technical aspects, the book provides insight to the general concepts of standardization, how specification text is written, and how these concepts apply to the HEVC specification.

Part 10 of MPEG-4 describes the Advanced Video Coding (AVC) method widely known as H.264. H.264 is the product of a collaborative effort known as the Joint Video Team(JVT). The final draft of the standard was completed in May of 2003, and since then H.264 has become one of the most commonly used formats for compression of high definition video [9]. The entire H.264/AVC encoder is inherently a sequential process, which typically lends itself to a software solution. Within the H.264 Standard, two entropy decoders are discussed. These two lossless encoding methods are known as Context Adaptive Variable Length Coding (CAVLC) and Context Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC). CAVLC offers the most basic solution, while CABAC provides increased compression rates at a cost in algorithm complexity. For fast encoding of H.264 bit streams, three solutions are presented in this thesis. Two implementations of CAVLC are discussed, including a software and a hardware solution. Finally, a simple implementation of CABAC is proposed.

The requirements for multimedia (especially video and audio) communications increase rapidly in the last two decades in broad areas such as television, entertainment, interactive services, telecommunications, conference, medicine, security, business, traffic, defense and banking. Video and audio coding standards play most important roles in multimedia communications. In order to meet these requirements, series of video and audio coding standards have been developed such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-21 for audio and video by ISO/IEC, H.26x for video and G.72x for audio by ITU-T, Video Coder 1 (VC-1) for video by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and RealVideo (RV) 9 for video by Real Networks. AVS China is the abbreviation for Audio Video Coding Standard of China. This new standard includes four main technical areas, which are systems, video, audio and digital copyright management (DRM), and some supporting documents such as consistency verification. The second part of the standard known as AVS1-P2 (Video - Jizhun) was approved as the national standard of China in 2006, and several final drafts of the standard have been completed, including AVS1-P1 (System - Broadcast), AVS1-P2 (Video - Zengqiang), AVS1-P3 (Audio - Double track), AVS1-P3 (Audio - 5.1), AVS1-P7 (Mobile Video), AVS-S-P2 (Video) and AVS-S-P3 (Audio). AVS China provides a technical solution for many applications such as digital broadcasting (SDTV and HDTV), high-density storage media, Internet streaming media, and will be used in the domestic IPTV, satellite and possibly the cable TV market. Comparing with other coding standards such as H.264 AVC, the advantages of AVS video standard include similar performance, lower complexity, lower implementation cost and licensing fees. This standard has attracted great deal of attention from industries related to television, multimedia communications and even chip manufacturing from around the world. Also many well known companies have joined the AVS Group to be Full Members or Observing Members. The 163 members of AVS Group include Texas Instruments (TI) Co., Agilent Technologies Co. Ltd., Envivio Inc., NDS, Philips Research East Asia, Aisino Corporation, LG, Alcatel Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd., Nokia (China) Investment (NCIC) Co. Ltd., Sony (China) Ltd., and Toshiba (China) Co. Ltd. as well as some high level universities in China. Thus there is a pressing need from the instructors, students, and engineers for a book dealing with the topic of AVS China and its performance comparisons with similar standards such as H.264, VC-1 and RV-9.