1,256 research outputs found
Motion Scalability for Video Coding with Flexible Spatio-Temporal Decompositions
PhDThe research presented in this thesis aims to extend the scalability range of the
wavelet-based video coding systems in order to achieve fully scalable coding with a
wide range of available decoding points. Since the temporal redundancy regularly
comprises the main portion of the global video sequence redundancy, the techniques
that can be generally termed motion decorrelation techniques have a central role in
the overall compression performance. For this reason the scalable motion modelling
and coding are of utmost importance, and specifically, in this thesis possible
solutions are identified and analysed.
The main contributions of the presented research are grouped into two
interrelated and complementary topics. Firstly a flexible motion model with rateoptimised
estimation technique is introduced. The proposed motion model is based
on tree structures and allows high adaptability needed for layered motion coding. The
flexible structure for motion compensation allows for optimisation at different stages
of the adaptive spatio-temporal decomposition, which is crucial for scalable coding
that targets decoding on different resolutions. By utilising an adaptive choice of
wavelet filterbank, the model enables high compression based on efficient mode
selection. Secondly, solutions for scalable motion modelling and coding are
developed. These solutions are based on precision limiting of motion vectors and
creation of a layered motion structure that describes hierarchically coded motion.
The solution based on precision limiting relies on layered bit-plane coding of motion
vector values. The second solution builds on recently established techniques that
impose scalability on a motion structure. The new approach is based on two major
improvements: the evaluation of distortion in temporal Subbands and motion search
in temporal subbands that finds the optimal motion vectors for layered motion
structure.
Exhaustive tests on the rate-distortion performance in demanding scalable video
coding scenarios show benefits of application of both developed flexible motion
model and various solutions for scalable motion coding
Surveillance centric coding
PhDThe research work presented in this thesis focuses on the development of techniques
specific to surveillance videos for efficient video compression with higher processing
speed. The Scalable Video Coding (SVC) techniques are explored to achieve higher
compression efficiency. The framework of SVC is modified to support Surveillance
Centric Coding (SCC). Motion estimation techniques specific to surveillance videos
are proposed in order to speed up the compression process of the SCC.
The main contributions of the research work presented in this thesis are divided into
two groups (i) Efficient Compression and (ii) Efficient Motion Estimation. The
paradigm of Surveillance Centric Coding (SCC) is introduced, in which coding aims
to achieve bit-rate optimisation and adaptation of surveillance videos for storing and
transmission purposes. In the proposed approach the SCC encoder communicates
with the Video Content Analysis (VCA) module that detects events of interest in
video captured by the CCTV. Bit-rate optimisation and adaptation are achieved by
exploiting the scalability properties of the employed codec. Time segments
containing events relevant to surveillance application are encoded using high spatiotemporal
resolution and quality while the irrelevant portions from the surveillance
standpoint are encoded at low spatio-temporal resolution and / or quality. Thanks to
the scalability of the resulting compressed bit-stream, additional bit-rate adaptation is
possible; for instance for the transmission purposes. Experimental evaluation showed
that significant reduction in bit-rate can be achieved by the proposed approach
without loss of information relevant to surveillance applications.
In addition to more optimal compression strategy, novel approaches to performing
efficient motion estimation specific to surveillance videos are proposed and
implemented with experimental results. A real-time background subtractor is used to
detect the presence of any motion activity in the sequence. Different approaches for
selective motion estimation, GOP based, Frame based and Block based, are
implemented. In the former, motion estimation is performed for the whole group of
pictures (GOP) only when a moving object is detected for any frame of the GOP.
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While for the Frame based approach; each frame is tested for the motion activity and
consequently for selective motion estimation. The selective motion estimation
approach is further explored at a lower level as Block based selective motion
estimation. Experimental evaluation showed that significant reduction in
computational complexity can be achieved by applying the proposed strategy. In
addition to selective motion estimation, a tracker based motion estimation and fast
full search using multiple reference frames has been proposed for the surveillance
videos.
Extensive testing on different surveillance videos shows benefits of
application of proposed approaches to achieve the goals of the SCC
Motion compensation and very low bit rate video coding
Recently, many activities of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Standard Organization (ISO) are leading to define new standards for very low bit-rate video coding, such as H.263 and MPEG-4 after successful applications of the international standards H.261 and MPEG-1/2 for video coding above 64kbps. However, at very low bit-rate the classic block matching based DCT video coding scheme suffers seriously from blocking artifacts which degrade the quality of reconstructed video frames considerably. To solve this problem, a new technique in which motion compensation is based on dense motion field is presented in this dissertation.
Four efficient new video coding algorithms based on this new technique for very low bit-rate are proposed. (1) After studying model-based video coding algorithms, we propose an optical flow based video coding algorithm with thresh-olding techniques. A statistic model is established for distribution of intensity difference between two successive frames, and four thresholds are used to control the bit-rate and the quality of reconstructed frames. It outperforms the typical model-based techniques in terms of complexity and quality of reconstructed frames. (2) An efficient algorithm using DCT coded optical flow. It is found that dense motion fields can be modeled as the first order auto-regressive model, and efficiently compressed with DCT technique, hence achieving very low bit-rate and higher visual quality than the H.263/TMN5. (3) A region-based discrete wavelet transform video coding algorithm. This algorithm implements dense motion field and regions are segmented according to their content significance. The DWT is applied to residual images region by region, and bits are adaptively allocated to regions. It improves the visual quality and PSNR of significant regions while maintaining low bit-rate. (4) A segmentation-based video coding algorithm for stereo sequence. A correlation-feedback algorithm with Kalman filter is utilized to improve the accuracy of optical flow fields. Three criteria, which are associated with 3-D information, 2-D connectivity and motion vector fields, respectively, are defined for object segmentation. A chain code is utilized to code the shapes of the segmented objects. it can achieve very high compression ratio up to several thousands
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