Video Compression

H.261

Contents

H.261 Overview
Motivation
Features of H.261
H.261 Coder
Summary
References

H.261 Overview

An ITU-T H-series standard applicable

to videophone or video conferencing

Video coding algorithm is designed for

transport using the Real-time Transport
Protocol (RTP)
Operates in real-time with limited delay
Transmission bit rate is at multiples of
64Kbit/s

ITU-T (International Telecom Union)

Recommendation in 1990
Precursor to coding schemes found in
H.263 and MPEG-1

H.261 (p x 64) Motivation

Uncompressed video and audio data are huge

Compression ratio of lossless methods is not high

enough

Target networks are p * 64Kbps, 1p30

64Kbps (p=1) < data rate < 1920Kbps (p=30)

Covers transmission from ISDN base rate (64 Kbps) up past
the T-1 data rate (1.54 Mbps)
Maximum delay of 150 ms

Coding algorithm is a hybrid of:

Inter-picture prediction - removes temporal redundancy

Transform coding - removes the spatial redundancy

Motion compensation uses motion vectors to help the

codec compensate for motion

Data rate can be set between 40 Kbit/s and 2 Mbit/s

Input signal format

CIF (Common Intermediate Format) and QCIF (Quarter CIF)

available

Features of H.261 Source format

Bit rate

The target bit rate is ~ 64Kbps to 1920Kbps

Picture formats

CIF (Common Intermediate Format) NTSC & PAL

QCIF (Quarter Common Intermediate Format)

At 29.97 frames per second with 4:2:0 chrominance

sub-sampling (Y:CB:CR)

Features of H.261 Video multiplex

arrangement

Group of blocks structure

Picture coded as luminance and two

color difference components (Y, CB and CR)

Group of blocks (GOB)

MacroBlock (MB)
Block

H.261 - Video multiplex

arrangement

4 layers in the compressed stream

Picture, GOB (Group Of Block), MB

(MacroBlock), Block
11
3

GOB
QCIF
CIF

MB

Cb
Y

Cr

H.261 Picture Syntax (1/4)

H.261 Picture Syntax (2/4)

H.261 Picture Syntax (3/4)

H.261 Picture Syntax (4/4)

H.261 Coding Frame Types

Intra-Encoded Frames (I-Frames)

Similar to JPEG compression

Spatial filtering still objects (transform coding)

Ex.: Black and White background pattern

Predicted Frames (P-Frame)

Predicted based on earlier frame

Temporal filtering Inter-picture prediction

Ex.: Application User

H.261 - Motion Compensation

Assumption

As parts of an
image moves, its
colors stays mostly
constant

Idea

Find similar parts in

other images
Encode where it
was found (i.e.
motion vector)
Previous decoded
image Reference
image
Image to code
Target Image
Encode the
residual only

H.261 Coder

Outline block diagram for H.261 codec

External control

Coding control

Source coder
Video

Video multiplex
coder

Transmission
buffer

a) Video coder

Signal
Source decoder

Video multiplex
decoder

Receiving
buffer

b) Video decoder

Coded
bitstream

H.261 coder structure (1/2)

Encoder
Coding
control

Intra/inter

Mode
Qp

DCT

VLC

Video out

Q-1
Video in
DCT-1
+
MC

Frame
buffer
MV

ME

H.261 coder structure (2/2)

Decoder
Step size
Error
Correction

VLC
Decoder

Buffer

Intra/inter
Input data

Q-1

IDCT

Motion Vector
+

MC

Frame
Memory

Decoded data

Discrete Cosine Transformation

(DCT)

Overview:
64 2-D DCT basis
functions:

FFT vs. DCT:

FFT, but

Like

approximates
lines with fewer
coefficients

Discrete Cosine Transformation

(DCT) Computation
Factoring reduces transformation to a
series of 1-Dimensional DCTs

Demo

Miss America (QCIF)

Summary

H.261

Used in video/teleconferencing

Techniques used:

Two dimensional (2-D) 8 X 8 DCT to remove intra-frame

correlation
Zig-zag order to scan the transform coefficients
Run Length coding for zero-valued coefficients after
quantization
Motion estimation is applied to video sequence to improve
the prediction between successive frames
Transmission rates control in the range of p X 64 Kbps
Error resilience including synchronization and
concealment technique required in transmission code, to
cover up channel errors
Common Intermediate Format (CIF) and Quarter CIF
(QCIF) for a single solution to different video formats
(NTSC / PAL)

References

Video codec for audiovisual services at p x 64

kbit/s ITU-T (International Telecommunication
Union Telecommunication Standardization
Sector) Recommendation H.261, 1993

Stephen J. Solari, Digital Video and Audio

Compression, McGraw-Hill Professional; (March 1,
1997)

K. Rijkse, H.261 : Video Coding for Low-Bit-Rate

Communication, IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 42
45

H.261 Video Coding

http://www-mobile.ecs.soton.ac.uk/peter/h261/h261.html