Existing software applications should be redesigned if programmers want to benefit from the performance offered by multi- and many-core architectures. Performance scalability now depends on the possibility of finding and exploiting enough Thread-Level Parallelism (TLP) in applications for using the increasing numbers of cores on a chip. Video decoding is an example of an application domain with increasing computational requirements every new generation. This is due, on the one hand, to the trend towards high quality video systems (high definition and frame rate, 3D displays, etc) that results in a continuous increase in the amount of data that has to be processed in real-time. On the other hand, there is the requirement to maintain high compression efficiency which is only possible with video codes like H.264/AVC that use advanced coding techniques. In this book, the parallelization of H.264/AVC decoding is presented as a case study of parallel programming. H.264/AVC decoding is an example of a complex application with many levels of dependencies, different kernels, and irregular data structures. The book presents a detailed methodology for parallelization of this type of applications. It begins with a description of the algorithm, an analysis of the data dependencies and an evaluation of the different parallelization strategies. Then the design and implementation of a novel parallelization approach is presented that is scalable to many core architectures. Experimental results on different parallel architectures are discussed in detail. Finally, an outlook is given on parallelization opportunities in the upcoming HEVC standard.

High definition video requires substantial compression in order to be transmitted or stored economically. Advances in video coding standards from MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 to H.264/AVC have provided ever increasing coding efficiency, at the expense of great computational complexity which can only be delivered through massively parallel processing. This book will present VLSI architectural design and chip implementation for high definition H.264/AVC video encoding, using a state-of-the-art video application, with complete VLSI prototype, via FPGA/ASIC. It will serve as an invaluable reference for anyone interested in VLSI design and high-level (EDA) synthesis for video.

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.

As the latest video compression standard, H.264/AVC exhibits great compression performance than its previous ancestors. Many new features are used to achieve much better rate-distortion efficiency and subjective quality, but the high computational complexity and intensive memory access are the penalties. Such high requirement of memory and computational resources leads to long processing cycles and high power consumption. This made real-time encoding of H.264/AVC hard to implement.

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.

Video is the main driver of bandwidth use, accounting for over 80 per cent of consumer Internet traffic. Video compression is a critical component of many of the available multimedia applications, it is necessary for storage or transmission of digital video over today's band-limited networks. The majority of this video is coded using international standards developed in collaboration with ITU-T Study Group and MPEG. The MPEG family of video coding standards begun on the early 1990s with MPEG-1, developed for video and audio storage on CD-ROMs, with support for progressive video. MPEG-2 was standardized in 1995 for applications of video on DVD, standard and high definition television, with support for interlaced and progressive video. MPEG-4 part 2, also known as MPEG-2 video, was standardized in 1999 for applications of low- bit rate multimedia on mobile platforms and the Internet, with the support of object-based or content based coding by modeling the scene as background and foreground. Since MPEG-1, the main video coding standards were based on the so-called macroblocks. However, research groups continued the work beyond the traditional video coding architectures and found that macroblocks could limit the performance of the compression when using high-resolution video. Therefore, in 2013 the high efficiency video coding (HEVC) also known and H.265, was released, with a structure similar to H.264/AVC but using coding units with more flexible partitions than the traditional macroblocks. HEVC has greater flexibility in prediction modes and transform block sizes, also it has a more sophisticated interpolation and de blocking filters. In 2006 the VC-1 was released. VC-1 is a video codec implemented by Microsoft and the Microsoft Windows Media Video (VMW) 9 and standardized by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). In 2017 the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET) released a call for proposals for a new video coding standard initially called Beyond the HEVC, Future Video Coding (FVC) or known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC). VVC is being built on top of HEVC for application on Standard Dynamic Range (SDR), High Dynamic Range (HDR) and 360° Video. The VVC is planned to be finalized by 2020. This book presents the new VVC, and updates on the HEVC. The book discusses the advances in lossless coding and covers the topic of screen content coding. Technical topics discussed include: Beyond the High Efficiency Video CodingHigh Efficiency Video Coding encoderScreen contentLossless and visually lossless coding algorithmsFast coding algorithmsVisual quality assessmentOther screen content coding algorithmsOverview of JPEG Series