4.

8 Compression and Decompression

Compression is the way of making files to take up less space. In multimedia systems, in order
to manage large multimedia data objects efficiently, these data objects need to be compressed
to reduce the file size for storage of these objects.
Compression tries to eliminate redundancies in the pattern of data.
For example, if a black pixel is followed by 20 white pixels, there is no need to store all 20
white pixels. A coding mechanism can be used so that only the count of the white pixels is
stored. Once such redundancies are removed, the data object requires less time for transmission
over a network. This in turn significantly reduces storage and transmission costs.
Types of Compression
Compression and decompression techniques are utilized for a number of applications, such as
facsimile system, printer systems, document storage and retrieval systems, video
teleconferencing systems, and electronic multimedia messaging systems. An important
standardization of compression algorithm was achieved by the CCITT when it specified Group
2 compression for facsimile system.
When information is compressed, the redundancies are removed. Sometimes removing
redundancies is not sufficient to reduce the size of the data object to manageable levels. In such
cases, some real information is also removed. The primary criterion is that removal of the real
information should not perceptibly affect the quality of the result. In the case of video,
compression causes some information to be lost; some information at a delete level is
considered not essential for a reasonable reproduction of the scene. This type of compression
is called lossy compression. Audio compression, on the other hand, is not lossy. It is called
lossless compression.
Lossless Compression
In lossless compression, data is not altered or lost in the process of compression or
decompression. Decompression generates an exact replica of the original object. Text
compression is a good example of lossless compression. The repetitive nature of text, sound
and graphic images allows replacement of repeated strings of characters or bits by codes.
Lossless compression techniques are good for text data and for repetitive data in images all like
binary images and gray-scale images.
Some of the commonly accepted lossless standards are given below:
 Packpits encoding (Run-length encoding)
 CCITT Group 3 I D
 CCITT Group 3 2D
 CCITT Group 4
 Lempe l-Ziv and Welch algorithm LZW.
Lossy compression
Lossy compression is that some loss would occur while compressing information objects.
Lossy compression is used for compressing audio, gray-scale or color images, and video
objects in which absolute data accuracy is not necessary.
The idea behind the lossy compression is that, the human eye fills in the missing information
in the case of video. But, an important consideration is how much information can be lost so
that the result should not affect. For example, in a grayscale image, if several bits are missing,
the information is still perceived in an acceptable manner as the eye fills in the gaps in the
shading gradient.
Lossy compression is applicable in medical screening systems, video tele-conferencing, and
multimedia electronic messaging systems. Lossy compressions techniques can be used alone
or in combination with other compression methods in a multimedia object consisting of audio,
color images, and video as well as other specialized data types.
The following lists some of the lossy compression mechanisms:
 Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
 Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
 Intel DVI
 CCITT H.261 (P * 24) Video Coding Algorithm
 Fractals.
Some of the compression schemes are
Binary Image compression schemes
Binary Image Compression Scheme is a scheme by which a binary image containing black and
white pixel is generated when a document is scanned in a binary mode. The schemes are used
primarily for documents that do not contain any continuous-tone information or where the
continuous-tone information can be captured in a black and white mode to serve the desired
purpose.
The schemes are applicable in office/business documents, handwritten text, line graphics,
engineering drawings, and so on. Let us view the scanning process. A scanner scans a document
as sequential scan lines, starting from the top of the page.
A scan line is complete line of pixels, of height equal to one pixel, running across the page. It
scans the first line of pixels (Scan Line), then scans second "line, and works its way up to the
last scan line of the page. Each scan line is scanned from left to right of the page generating
black and white pixels for that scan line.
This uncompressed image consists of a single bit per pixel containing black and white pixels.
Binary 1 represents a black pixel, binary 0 a white pixel. Several schemes have been
standardized and used to achieve various levels of compressions. Let us review the more
commonly used schemes.
1.Packpits Encoding (Run-Length Encoding)
It is a scheme in which a consecutive repeated string of characters is replaced by two bytes. It
is the simple, earliest of the data compression scheme developed. It need not to have a standard.
It is used to compress black and white (binary) images. Among two bytes which are being
replaced, the first byte contains a number representing the number of times the character is
repeated, and the second byte contains the character itself.
In some cases, one byte is used to represent the pixel value, and the other seven bits to
represents the run length.
2. CCITT Group 3 1-D Compression
This scheme is based on run-length encoding and assumes that a typical scanline has long runs
of the same color. This scheme was designed for black and white images only, not for gray
scale or color images. The primary application of this scheme is in facsimile and early
document imaging system.
Huffman Encoding
A modified version of run-length encoding is Huffman encoding. It is used for many software
based document imaging systems. It is used for encoding the pixel run length in CCITT Group
3 1-dGroup 4. It is variable-length encoding. It generates the shortest code for frequently
occurring run lengths and longer code for less frequently occurring run lengths.
Mathematical Algorithm for Huffman encoding:
Huffman encoding scheme is based on a coding tree.
It is constructed based on the probability of occurrence of white pixels or black pixels in the
run length or bit stream.
Table below shows the CCITT Group 3 tables showing codes or white run lengths and black
run lengths.

White Black
Run Code Run Code
Length Word Length Word
0 00110101 0 0000110111
1 000111 1 010
2 0111 2 11
3 1000 3 10
4 1011 4 011
5 1100 5 0011
6 1110 6 0010
7 1111 7 00011
8 10011 8 000101
9 10100 9 000100
10 00111 10 0000100
11 01000 10 0000100
11 01000 11 0000101
12 001000 12 0000111
13 000011 13 00000100
14 110100 14 00000111
15 110101 15 000011000
16 101010 16 0000010111
17 101011 17 0000011000
 18 0100111 18 0000001000
19 0001100 19 00001100111
20 0001000 20 00001101000
21 0010111 21 00001101100
22 0000011 22 00000110111
23 0000100 23 00000101000
24 0101000 24 00000010111
25 0101011 25 00000011000
26 0010011 26 000011001010
27 0100100 27 000011001011
28 0011000 28 000011001100
29 00000010 29 000011001101
30 00000011 30 000001101000
31 00011010 31 000001101001
32 00011011 32 000001101010
33 00010010 33 000001101011
34 00010011 34 000011010010
35 00010100 35 000011010011
Table 1:Run-Length Codes for CCITT Group
For example, from Table, the run-length code of 16 white pixels is 101010, and of 16 black
pixels 0000010111. Statistically, the occurrence of 16 white pixels is more frequent than the
occurrence of 16 black pixels. Hence, the code generated for 16 white pixels is much shorter.
This allows for quicker decoding. For this example, the tree structure could be constructed.

36 00010101 36 000011010100
37 00010110 37 000011010101
38 00010111 38 000011010110
39 00101000 39 000011010111
40 00101001 40 000001101100
41 00101010 41 000001101101
42 00101011 42 000011011010
43 00101100 43 000011011011
44 00101101 44 000001010100
45 00000100 45 000001010101
46 00000101 46 000001010110
47 00001010 47 000001010111
48 00001011 48 000001100100
49 01010010 49 000001100101
50 01010011 50 000001010010
51 01010100 51 000001010010
52 01010101 52 000000100100
53 00100100 53 000000110111
Table 1:Run-Length Codes for CCITT Group
The codes greater than a string of 1792 pixels are identical for black and white pixels. A new
code indicates reversal of color, that is, the pixel Color code is relative to the color of the
previous pixel sequence.
Table below shows the codes for pixel sequences larger than 1792 pixels.

Table:2 Run-Length Coding for Large Pixel Sequence

CCITT Group 3 compression utilizes Huffman coding to generate a set of make-up codes and
a set of terminating codes for a given bit stream. Make-up codes are used to represent run length
in multiples of 64 pixels. Terminating codes are used to represent run lengths of less than 64
pixels.
As shown in Table 1; run-length codes for black pixels are different from the run-length codes
for white pixels. For example, the run-length code for 64 white pixels is 11011. The run length
code for 64 black pixels is 0000001111. Consequently, the run length of 132 white pixels is
encoded by the following two codes:
Makeup code for 128 white pixels - 10010
Terminating code for 4 white pixels - 1011
The compressed bit stream for 132 white pixels is 100101011, a total of nine bits. Therefore,
the compression ratio is 14, the ratio between the total number of bits (132) divided by the
number of bits used to code them (9).
CCITT Group 3 uses a very simple data format. This consists of sequential blocks of data for
each scanline, as shown in Table 3.
Coding tree for 16 white pixels

Coding tree for 16 black pixels

Note that the file is terminated by a number of EOLs (End of. Line) if there is no change in the
line from the previous line (for example, white space).

Table: 3 CCITT Group 3 1D File Format

Advantages of CCITT Group 3 ID
CCITT Group 3 compression has been used extensively due to the following two advantages:
It is simple to implement in both hardware and software.
It is a worldwide standard for facsimile which is accepted for document imaging application.
This allows document imaging applications to incorporate fax documents easily.
 CCITT group 3 compressions utilizes Huffman coding to generate a set of make-up
codes and a set of terminating codes for a give bit stream.
  CCITT Group 3 uses a very simply data format. This consists of sequential blocks of
data for each scanline.
CCITT Group 3 2D Compression
It is also known as modified run length encoding. It is used for software based imaging system
and facsimile. It is easier to decompress in software than CCITT Group 4. The CCITT Group
3 2D scheme uses a "k" factor where the image is divided into several group of k lines. This
scheme is based on the statistical nature of images; the image data across the adjacent scanline
is redundant.
If black and white transition occurs on a given scanline, chances are the same transition will
occur within + or - 3 pixels in the next scanline.
Necessity of k factor
When CCITT Group 3 2D compression is used, the algorithm embeds Group 3 1 D coding
between every k groups of Group 3 2D coding, allowing the Group 3 1 D coding to be the
synchronizing line in the event of a transmission error. Therefore when a transmission error
occurs due to a bad communication link, the group 3 I D can be used to synchronize and correct
the error.
Data formatting for CClIT Group 3 2D
The 2D scheme uses a combination of additional codes called vertical code, pass code, and
horizontal code to encode every line in the group of k lines.
The steps for pseudocode to code the code line are:
 Parse the coding line and look for the change in the pixel value. The pixel value change
is found at the a1 location (a1 is an indicator that the pixel changed from binary 0 to
binary 1).
 Parse the reference line and look for the change in the pixel value. The change is found
at b1 location.
 Find the difference in location between b1 and a1: delta = b1- a1
Advantage of CClIT Group 3 2D
The implementation of the k factor allows error-free transmission. Compression ratio achieved
is better than CClTT Group 3 1 D.
It is accepted for document imaging applications.
Disadvantage of CClIT Group 3 2D
It doesn’t provide dense compression.

CCITT Group 4 2D compression

CClTT Group 4 compression is the two dimensional coding scheme without the k-factor. In
this method, the first reference line is an imaginary all-white line above the top of the image.
The first group of pixels (scanline) is encoded utilizing the imaginary white line as the reference
line. The new coded line becomes the references line for the next scan line. The k-factor in this
case is the entire page of line. In this method, there are no end-of-line (EOL) markers before
the start of the compressed data.

COLOR, GRAY SCALE, AND STILL-VIDEO IMAGE COMPRESSION

Color:
Color is a part of life we take for granted. Color adds another dimension to objects. It helps in
making things standout.
Color adds depth to images, enhance images, and helps set objects apart from -background. Let
us review the physics of color. Visible light is a form of electromagnetic radiation or radiant
energy, as are radio frequencies or x-rays. The radiant energy spectrum contains audio
frequencies, radio frequencies, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet rays, x-rays and gamma rays.
Radian energy is measured in terms of frequency or wavelength. The relationship between the
two is
𝐶
=𝑓 meters

where  - is the wavelength in meters.

𝐶 is the velocity of light in meters per second.
𝑓 is frequency of the radiation in hertz.
Since all electromagnetic waves travel through space at the velocity of light i.e., 3 x 108
meters/second - the wavelength is calculated by
3
 = 𝑓 x108 meters

Color Characteristics
We typically define color by its brightness, the hue and depth of color.
Luminance or Brightness
This is the measure of the brightness of the light emitted or reflected by an object; it depends
on the radiant, energy of the color band.
Hue
This is the color sensation produced in an observer due to the presence of certain wavelengths
of color. Each wavelength represents a different hue.
Saturation
This is a measure of color intensity, for example, the difference between red and pink.
Color Models
Several color models have been developed to represent color mathematically.
Chromacity Model
It is a three-dimensional model with two dimensions, x and y, defining the color, and the third
dimension defining the luminance. It is an additive model since x and yare added to generate
different colors.
RGB Model
RGB means Red Green Blue. This model implements additive theory in that different
intensities of red, green and blue are added to generate various colors.
HSI Model
The Hue Saturation and Intensity (HSI) model represents an artist's impression of tint, shade
and tone. This model has proved suitable for image processing for filtering and smoothing
images.
CMYK Model
The Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black color model is used in desktop publishing printing
devices. It is a color-subtractive model and is best used in color printing devices only.
YUV Representation The NTSC developed the YUV three-dimensional color model.
y -Luminance Component UV -Chrominance Components. Luminance component contains
the black and white or grayscale information. The chrominance component contains color
information where U is red minus cyan and V is megenta minus green.
YUV Model for JPEG
The JPEG compression scheme uses several stages. The first stage converts the signal from the
spatial RGB domain to the YUV frequency domain by performing discrete cosine transform.
This process allows separating luminance or gray-scale components from the chrominance
components of the image.

JOINT PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERTS GROUP COMPRES5ION (JPEG)

ISO and CCITT working committee joint together and formed Joint Photographic Experts
Group. It is focused exclusively on still image compression.
Another joint committee, known as the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), is concerned
with full motion video standards.
JPEG is a compression standard for still color images and grayscale images, otherwise known
as continuous tone images.
JPEG has been released as an ISO standard in two parts
  Part I specifies the modes of operation, the interchange formats, and the
encoder/decoder specifies for these modes along with substantial implementation guide
lines.
 Part 2 describes compliance tests which determine whether the implementation of an
encoder or decoder conforms to the standard specification of part I to ensure
interoperability of systems compliant with JPEG standards
Requirements addressed by JPEG
 The design should address image quality.
 The compression standard should be applicable to practically any kind of continuous-
tone digital source image.
 It should be scalable from completely lossless to lossy ranges to adapt it.
 It should provide sequential encoding.
 It should provide for progressive encoding.
 It should also provide for hierarchical encoding.
 The compression standard should provide the option of lossless encoding so that images
can be guaranteed to provide full detail at the selected resolution when decompressed.
Definitions in the JPEG Standard
The JPEG Standards have three levels of definition as follows:
1. Base line system
2. Extended system
3. Special lossless function.
The base line system must reasonably decompress color images, maintain a high compression
ratio, and handle from 4 bits/pixel to 16 bits/pixel.
The extended system covers the various encoding aspects such as variable-length encoding,
progressive encoding, and the hierarchical mode of encoding.
The special lossless function is also known as predictive lossless coding. It ensures that at the
resolution at which the image is no loss of any detail that was there in the original source image.
Overview of JPEG Components JPEG Standard components are:
1. Baseline Sequential Codec
2. OCT Progressive Mode
3. Predictive Lossless Encoding
4. Hierarchical Mode.
These four components describe four different levels of JPEG compression. The baseline
sequential code defines a rich compression scheme, considering adequate for most applications.
The other three modes describe enhancements to this baseline scheme for achieving different
results. Some of the terms used in JPEG methodologies are:
Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)
DCT is closely related to Fourier transforms. Fourier transforms are used to represent a two
dimensional sound signal. DCT uses a similar concept to reduce the gray-scale level or color
signal amplitudes to equations that require very few points to locate the amplitude in Y-axis
X-axis is for locating frequency.
DCT Coefficients
The output amplitudes of the set of 64 orthogonal basis signals are called DCT co-efficients.
Quantization
This is a process that attempts to determine what information can be safely discarded without
a significant loss in visual fidelity. It uses OCT co-efficient and provides many-to-one
mapping. The quantization process is fundamentally lossy due to its many-to-one mapping.
De Quantization
This process is the reverse of quantization. Note that since quantization used a many-to-one
mapping, the information lost in that mapping cannot be fully recovered.
Entropy Encoder / Decoder
Entropy is defined as a measure of randomness, disorder, or chaos, as well as a measure of a
system's ability to undergo spontaneous change. The entropy encoder compresses quantized
DCT co-efficients more compactly based on their spatial characteristics. The baseline
sequential. codec uses Huffman coding. Arithmetic coding is another type of entropy encoding.
Huffman Coding
Huffman coding requires that one or more sets of huff man code tables be specified by the
application for encoding as well as decoding. The Huffman tables may be pre-defined and used
within an application as defaults, or computed specifically for a given image.
Baseline Sequential codec
It consists of three steps: Formation of DCT co-efficients, quantization, and entropy encoding.
It is a rich compression scheme sufficient for most applications.
DCT Progressive Mode
The key steps of formation of DCT co-efficients and quantization are the same as for the
baseline sequential codec. The key difference is that each image component is coded in
multiple scans instead of a single scan.
Predictive Lossless Encoding
It is to define a means of approaching lossless continuous-tone compression. A predictor
combines sample areas and predicts neighboring areas on the basis of the sample areas. The
predicted areas are checked against the fully loss less sample for each area. The difference is
encoded losslessly using huffman on arithmetic entropy encoding .
Hierarchical Mode
The hierarchical mode provides a means of carrying multiple resolutions. Each successive
encoding of the image is reduced by a factor of two, in either the horizontal or vertical
dimension.
JPEG Methodology
The JPEG compression scheme is lossy, and utilizes forward discrete cosine transform (or
forward DCT mathematical function), a uniform quantizer, and entropy encoding. The DCT
function removes data redundancy by transforming data from a spatial domain to a frequency
domain; the quantizer quantizes DCT co-efficients with weighting functions to generate
quantized DCT co-efficients optimized for the human eye; and the entropy encoder minimizes
the entropy of quantized DCT co-efficients.
8X8 BLOCK DC
DC
DPCM
DCT Q HUFFMAN

AC
ZIG ZAG
HUFFMAN
AC ENCODER

DC
DC HUFFMAN IDPCM

IDCT

AC HUFFMAN

AC DECODER
Figure: Symmetric Operation of DCT Based Codec.
The JPEG method is a symmetric algorithm. Here, decompression is the exact reverse process
of compression. Figure describes a typical DCT based encoder and decoder.
8X8 IMAGE
BLOCK
DCT QUANTIZER ENTROPY

QUANTIZER HUFFMAN

TABLE TABLE

Figure: Codec Components

The above figure shoes the components and sequence of quantization. Note that the
components are equivalent to those in figure Symmetric operation of DCT Based Codec where
Q is the quantizer, and the rest of the encoder is equivalent of the entropy encoder.
Quantization
Quantization is a process of reducing the precision of an integer, thereby reducing the number
of bits required to store the integer, thereby reducing the number of bits required to store the
integer.
The baseline JPEG algorithm supports four color quantization tables and two huffman tables
for both DC and AC DCT co-efficients. The quantized co-efficient is described by the
following equation:
𝐷𝐶𝑇(𝑖, 𝑗)
𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜 − 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡(𝑖, 𝑗) =
𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚(𝑖, 𝑗)
ZigZag Sequence
Run-length encoding generates a code to represent the C0unt of zero-value DCT co-efficients.
This process of run-length encoding gives an excellent compression of the block consisting
mostly of zero values.
Further empirical work proved that the length of zero values in a run can be increased to give
a further increase in compression by reordering the runs. JPEG came up with ordering the
quantized DCT coefficients in a ZigZag sequence
Entropy Encoding
Entropy is a term used in thermodynamics for the study of heat and work. Entropy, as used in
data compression, is the measure of the information content of a message in number of bits. It
is represented as
𝐸𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔2 (𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡)
VIDEO IMAGE COMPRESSION
The development of digital video technology has made it possible to use digital video
compression for a variety of telecommunications applications. Standardization of compression
algorithms for video was first initiated by CCITT for teleconferencing and video telephony.

Figure: Multimedia standards for Video

Requirements for full-motion Video Compression
Applications using MPEG standards can be symmetric or asymmetric. Symmetric applications
are applications that require essentially equal use of compression and decompression.
Asymmetric applications require frequent decompression.
Symmetric applications require on-line input devices such as video cameras, scanners and
microphones for digitized sound. In addition to video and audio compression, this standards
activity is concerned with a number of other Issues concerned with playback of video clips and
sound clips. The MPEG standard has identified a number of such issues that have been
addressed by the standards activity. Let us review these Issues.
Random Access
The expectations generated for multimedia systems are the ability to playa sound or video clip
from any frame with that clip, irrespective of on what kind-of media the information is stored.
VCR paradigm
The VCR paradigm consists of the control functions typically found on a VCR such as play,
fast forward, rewind, search forward and rewind search.
Multiplexing Multiple Compressed Audio and Video Bit Streams
It is a special requirement of multimedia messaging systems and other multimedia applications
is the need of multiplex multiple audio and video bit streams retrieved from different storage
centers on a network. The multiplexing may have to be achieved in a smooth manner to avoid
the appearance of a jumpy screen.
Editability
A very common function performed by users of messaging systems is to cut and paste existing
message into a new memo or report. This metaphor is expected to be transferred to multimedia
documents. Cutting and pasting audio and video clips is an important consideration in the
MPEG standard.
Playback Device Flexibility
The overall client-server mode of operations has made predictability of the playback device a
virtual impossibility. The client has to negotiate with the server to convert the information into
formats appropriate for playback, whether it is in an X-Windows window, a Presentation
Manager, or an MS Windows window.
CCITT H.261 Video Coding Algorithms (P x 64)
The linear quantizer uses a step algorithm that can be adjusted based on picture quality and
coding efficiency. The H.261 is a standard that uses a hybrid of OCT and OPCM (differential
pulse Code Modulation) schemes with motion estimation.
It also defines the data format. Each MB contains the OCT coefficients (TCOEFF) ofa block
followed by an EOB (a fixed length end-of-block marker). Each MB consists of block data and
an MB header. A GOB (Group of Blocks) consists of a GOB header. The picture layer consists
of a picture header. The H.261 is designed for dynamic use and provides a fully contained
organization and a high level of interactive control.
Moving Picture Experts Group Compression
The MPEG standards consist of a number of different standards.
The MPEG 2 suite of standards consist of standards for MPEG2 Video, MPEG - 2 Audio and
MPEG - 2 systems. It is also defined at different levels, called profiles.
The main profile is designed to cover the largest number of applications. It supports digital
video compression in the range of 2 to 15 M bits/sec. It also provides a generic solution for
television worldwide, including cable, direct broadcast satellite, fibre optic media, and optical
storage media (including digital VCRs).
MPEG Coding Methodology
The above said requirements can be achieved only by incremental coding of successive frames.
It is known as interframe coding. If we access information randomly by frame requires coding
confined to a specific frame, then it is known as intraframe coding.
The MPEG standard addresses these two requirements by providing a balance between
interframe coding and intraframe coding. The MPEG standard also provides for recursive and
non-recursive temporal redundancy reduction.
The MPEG video compression standard provides two basic schemes: discrete-transform-based
compression for the reduction of' spatial redundancy and block-based motion compensation for
the reduction of temporal (motion) redundancy. During the initial stages of DCT compression,
both the full motion MPEG and still image JPEG algorithms are essentially identical. First an
image is converted to the YUV color space (a luminance/chrominance color space similar to
that used for color television). The pixel data is then fed into a discrete cosine transform, which
creates a scalar quantization (a two-dimensional array representing various frequency ranges
represented in the image) of the pixel data.
Following quantization, a number of compression algorithms are applied, including run-length
and Huffman encoding. For full motion video (MPEG I and 2), several more levels of block
based motion-compensated techniques are applied to reduce temporal redundancy with both
causal and non-causal coding to further reduce spatial redundancy.
The MPEG algorithm for spatial reduction is lossy and is defined as a hybrid which employs
motion compensation, forward discrete cosine transform (DCF), a uniform quantizer, and
Huffman coding. Block-based motion compensation is utilized for reducing temporal
redundancy (i.e. to reduce the amount of data needed to represent each picture in a video
sequence). Motion-compensated reduction is a key feature of MPEG.
Moving Picture Types
Moving pictures consist of sequences of video pictures or frames that are played back a fixed
number of frames per second. To achieve the requirement of random access, a set of pictures
can be defined to form a group of pictures (GOP) consisting of one or more of the following
three types of pictures.
 Intrapictures (I)
 Unidirectionally predicted pictures (U)
 Bidirectionally predicted pictures (B)
A GOP consists of consecutive pictures that begin with an intrapicture. The intrapicture is
coded without any reference to any other picture in the group.
Predicted pictures are coded with a reference to a past picture, either an intrapicture or a
unidirectionally predicted picture. Bidirectionally predicted picture is never used as references.
In other words, an intrapicture or past unidirectionally predicted picture is utilized to code the
current unidirectionally predicted picture by using motion compensation.
Figure shows motion compensation for coding MPEG.
Let us review the concept of Macroblocks and understand the role they play in compression.
Macro Blocks
For the video coding algorithm recommended by CCITT, CIF and QCIF are divided into a
hierarchical block structure consisting of pictures, groups of blocks (GOBs), Macro
Blocks(MBs), and blocks. Each picture frame is divided into 16 x 16 blocks. Each Macroblock
is composed of four 8 x 8 (Y) luminance blocks and two 8 x 8 (Cb and Cn) chrominance blocks.
This set of six blocks, called a macroblock; is the basic hierarchical component used for
achieved a high level of compression.
Motion compensation
Motion compensation is the basis for most compression algorithms for visual telephony and
full-motion video. Motion compensation assumes that the current picture is some translation
of a previous picture. This creates the opportunity for using prediction and interpolation.
Prediction requires only the current frame and the reference frame.
Based on motion vectors values generated, the prediction approach attempts to find the relative
new position of the object and confirms it by comparing some block exhaustively. In the
interpolation approach, the motion vectors are generated in relation to two reference frames,
one from the past and the next predicted frame.
The best-matching blocks in both reference frames are searched, and the average is taken as
the position of the block in the current frame. The motion vectors for the two reference, frames
are averaged.
Picture Coding Method
In this coding method, motion compensation is applied bidirectionally. In MPEG terminology,
the motion-compensated units are called macro blocks (MBs).
MBs are 16 x 16 blocks that contain a number of 8 x 8 luminance and chrominance blocks.
Each 16 x 16 macro block can be of type intrapicture, forward-predicted, backward predicted,
or average.
MPEG Encoder
Figure below shows the architecture of an MPEG encoder. It contains DCT quantizer, Huffman
coder and Motion compensation. These represent the key modules in the encoder.
First an image is converted to the YUV color space.
The pixel data is then fed into a DCT, which creates a scalar quantization of the pixel data.
Following quantization, a number of compression algorithms are applied, including run-length
and Huffman encoding. For full-motion video, several more levels of motion compensation
compression and coding are applied.
MPEG -2
It is defined to include current television broadcasting compression and decompression needs,
and attempts to include hooks for HDTV broadcasting.
The MPEG-2 Standard Supports:
1. Video Coding
 MPEG-2 profiles and levels.
2. Audio Coding
 MPEG-l audio standard fro backward compatibility.
 Layer-2 audio definitions for MPEG-2 and stereo sound.
 Multichannel sound.
3. Multiplexing
 MPEG-2 definitions
The standard remains in flux and may change over time. The list above is a snapshot in time.
MPEG-2, "The Grand Alliance"
It consists of following companies AT&T, MIT, Philips, Sarnoff Labs, GI Thomson, and
Zenith. The MPEG-2committee and FCC formed this alliance. These companies together have
defined the advanced digital television system that include the US and European HDTV
systems. The outline of the advanced digital television system is as follows:
1. Format - 1080/2: 1160 or 720/1.1160
2. Video coding - MPEG-2 main profile and high level
3. Audio coding - Dolby AC3
4. Multiplexor - As defined in MPEG-2
5. Modulation - 8- VSB for terrestrial and 64-QAM for cable.
Vector Quantization
Vector quantization provides a multidimensional representation of information stored in look-
up tables, vector quantization is an efficient pattern-matching algorithm in which an image is
decomposed into two or more vectors, each representing particular features of the image that
are matched to a code book of vectors.
These are coded to indicate the best fit. In image compression, source samples such as pixels
are blocked into vectors so that each vector describes a small segment or sub block of the
original image. The image is then encoded by quantizing each vector separately
Intel's Indeo Technology
It is developed by Intel Architecture Labs Indeo Video is a software technology that reduces
the size of uncompressed digital video files from five to ten times. Indeo technology uses
multiple types of 'lossy' and 'lossless' compression techniques.
AUDIO COMPRESSION
Audio consists of analog signals of varying frequencies. The audio signals are converted to
digital form and then processed, stored and transmitted. Schemes such as linear predictive
coding and adaptive differential. pulse code modulation (ADPCM) are utilized for compression
to achieve 40-80% compression.
FRACTAL COMPRESSION
A fractal is a multi-dimensional object with an irregular shape or body that has approximately
the same shape or body irrespective of size. For example, if you consider 'stick' as your object,
the fractal is defined, mathematically as
ln[𝑁(𝐿)]
𝐷 = 𝑙𝑖𝑚
ln [1⁄𝐿]
Where L approaches 0,
N(L) is the number of stick L, and
L is the length of the stick.