Responsible for enabling videos to keep up with the fast-developing world of the internet while also delivering the best video experience for end users is video encoding: the technology that compresses raw video content. The recommendations for developing high compression capability for a desired image quality via video encoding are detailed in ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022—Information Technology – Coding Of Audio-Visual Objects – Part 10: Advanced Video Coding.
About Video Coding
Video coding format (or video compression format) is a content representation format for the storage or transmission of digital video content, such as in a data file or bitstream, that uses a standardized video compression algorithm based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) coding and motion compensation. The objective is to reduce the quantity of data while also retaining as much of the original’s quality as possible. By using a video codec, a video coding format like H.264 or AVC, a specific software, firmware, or hardware implementation is capable of compressing and decompressing the raw digital video signal. The compressing of this raw video reduces the bandwidth making it easier to transmit, while still maintaining a good video streaming quality experience for end viewers.
What is ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022?
ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022 specifies advanced video coding for ISO/IEC 14496 series of standards for coding of audio-visual objects. The coded representation specified in this international standard is designed to enable a high compression capability for a desired image quality. The use of the standard allows motion video to be manipulated as a form of computer data and to be stored on various storage media, which is transmitted and received over existing and future networks and distributed on existing and future broadcasting channels. It covers a variety of design characteristics, such as:
- Predictive coding (inter prediction and intra prediction)
- Coding of progressive and interlaced video
- Picture portioning into macroblocks and smaller partitions
- Spatial redundancy reduction
- Multiview video coding
- Scalable video coding
The standard was developed in response to the growing need for higher compression of moving pictures for various applications like videoconferencing, digital storage media, television broadcasting, internet streaming, and communication. Additionally, ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022 was designed to enable the use of the coded video representation in a flexible manner for a wide variety of network environments.
Inter Coding & Intra Coding
ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022 details that encoding algorithms may select between two main coding types, inter coding and intra coding, for block-shaped regions of each picture for achieving highly efficient compression.
- Inter coding uses motion vectors for block-based inter prediction to exploit temporal statistical dependencies between different pictures. Inter coding (predictive or bi-predictive) is more efficient using inter prediction of each block of sample values from some previously decoded picture selected by the encoder. In contrast to some other video coding standards, pictures coded using bi-predictive inter prediction may also be used as references for inter coding of other pictures.
- Intra coding uses various spatial prediction modes to exploit spatial statistical dependencies in the source signal for a single picture. Intra coding is done without reference to other pictures. It may provide access points to the coded sequence where decoding can begin and continue correctly, but typically also shows only moderate compression efficiency.
Achieving Highly Efficient Compression
Video coding is a technology applied to compress and decompress a digital video signal. This results in lower data volumes and enables the transmission of video signals over bandwidth-limited means, where uncompressed video signals would not be able to be transmitted. The use of coding and compression techniques, such as discrete coding transform (DCT) and motion compensation (MC), leads to better exploitation and more efficient management of the available bandwidth: the range of frequencies within a band to transmit a signal.
Exploiting refers to video compression algorithms taking advantage of the high similarity in the spatial, temporal, and frequency domain in the raw video signal. By removing this redundancy in these three different domain types, it is possible to achieve high compression of the deduced data, although a certain amount of visual information and quality is sacrificed. By following the recommendations in ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022, the loss of image quality and visual degradation from video encoding is not hugely detectable by the human eye.
What Are the Applications of ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022?
This standard is designed to cover a broad range of applications for video content including but not limited to the following:
- CATV: cable TV on optical networks, copper, etc.
- DBS: direct broadcast satellite video services.
- DSL: digital subscriber line video services.
- DTTB: digital terrestrial television broadcasting.
- ISM: interactive storage media (optical disks, etc.).
- MMM: multimedia mailing.
- MSPN: multimedia services over packet networks.
- RTC: real-time conversational services (videoconferencing, videophone, etc.).
- RVS: remote video surveillance.
- SSM: serial storage media (digital VTR, etc.).
ISO/IEC 14496-10:2022—Information Technology – Coding Of Audio-Visual Objects – Part 10: Advanced Video Coding is available on the ANSI Webstore.
