Multiview Video Coding
Multiview Video Coding (MVC, also known as MVC 3D) is an Stereoscopic Video Coding standard for video compression that allows for the efficient encoding of video sequences captured simultaneously from multiple camera angles in a single video stream. It uses the 2D plus Delta method and is an amendment to the H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) video compression standard, developed jointly by MPEG and VCEG.
MVC formatting is intended for encoding stereoscopic (two-view) 3D video, as well as free viewpoint television and multi-view 3D television. The Stereo High profile has been standardized in June 2009; the profile is based on the MVC toolset and is used in stereoscopic Blu-ray 3D releases.
MVC streams are backward compatible with H.264/AVC, which allows older video player devices and software decoders to decode MVC video streams while ignoring additional information for the second view, meaning that the stereoscopic image will not be available.
Technical overview
MVC is based on the idea that video recordings of the same scene from multiple angles share many common elements. It is possible to encode all simultaneous frames captured in the same elementary stream and to share as much information as possible across the different layers. This can reduce size of the encoded video.
Data compression
In signal processing, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction involves encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Compression can be either lossy or lossless. Lossless compression reduces bits by identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy. No information is lost in lossless compression. Lossy compression reduces bits by identifying unnecessary information and removing it. The process of reducing the size of a data file is referred to as data compression. In the context of data transmission, it is called source coding (encoding done at the source of the data before it is stored or transmitted) in opposition to channel coding.
Compression is useful because it helps reduce resource usage, such as data storage space or transmission capacity. Because compressed data must be decompressed to use, this extra processing imposes computational or other costs through decompression; this situation is far from being a free lunch. Data compression is subject to a space–time complexity trade-off. For instance, a compression scheme for video may require expensive hardware for the video to be decompressed fast enough to be viewed as it is being decompressed, and the option to decompress the video in full before watching it may be inconvenient or require additional storage. The design of data compression schemes involves trade-offs among various factors, including the degree of compression, the amount of distortion introduced (when using lossy data compression), and the computational resources required to compress and decompress the data.
Video coding (postal market)
Video coding, in the postal market, refers to entering address details manually if they cannot be retrieved automatically by OCR software. The address details on the postal items will be scanned by the sorting machine and this image will be sent to a computer that is connected to the network. Professionally trained data specialists receive the image, enter the correct address details and send them back, so that the sorting machine can sort the mail properly.
