High efficiency encoding and decoding of picture signals and recording medium containing same

• US 5,666,461 A
• Filed: 05/30/1995
• Issued: 09/09/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yonemitsu, Jun, Kato, Motoki, Suzuki, Teruhiko, Yagasaki, Yoichi, Sato, Tomoyuki, Fujinami, Yasushi, Igarashi, Katsuji
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, THAI Q
• Application Number:
  US08/454,598
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 348/384, 348/390, 348/400, 348/401, 348/402, 348/409, 348/411, 348/412, 348/413, 348/415, 348/416, 358/335, 358/342, 358/906, 358/909.1, 358/310, 360/33.1, 360/9.1
• US Class Current: 386/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/00 Methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/105 Selection of the reference unit for prediction within a chosen coding or prediction mode, e.g. adaptive choice of position and number of pixels used for prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/112 according to a given display mode, e.g. for interlaced or progressive display mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/137 Motion inside a coding unit, e.g. average field, frame or block difference
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/503 involving temporal prediction adaptive coding with adaptive selection between spatial and temporal predictive coding H04N19/107; adaptive coding with adaptive selection among a plurality of temporal predictive coding modes H04N19/109
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/577 Motion compensation with bidirectional frame interpolation, i.e. using B-pictures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/70 characterised by syntax aspects related to video coding, e.g. related to compression standards
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/85 using pre-processing or post-processing specially adapted for video compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/98 Adaptive-dynamic-range coding [ADRC]

Abstract

An encoder considers a frame representing a picture as comprised of areas. For each area, the encoder decides which of frame-based or field-based orthogonal transformation will be most efficient at reducing spatial redundancy in that area. For each area, the encoder decides which of frame-based or field-based predictive encoding will be most efficient at reducing temporal redundancy in that area. The encoder encodes each area of the picture frame using the most efficient orthogonal transformation technique and using the most efficient predictive encoding technique to produce an encoded signal. A decoder decodes the encoded signal. The encoded signal is recorded on a recording medium, transmitted over a transmission channel, or broadcast.

Claims

1. A recording medium having data recorded thereon which represents:

(i) an encoded picture signal having a plurality of macroblocks and including picture portions having been frame-based and/or field-based type predictively encoded and frame-based and/or field-based type orthogonally transformed processed in which each of said picture portions includes at least one of said macroblocks and in which said encoded picture signal represents a sequence of pictures such that said sequence of pictures provides a substantially continuous video image when reproduced from said recording medium, and (ii) header information which includes (a) information identifying the type of predictive encoding utilized for each respective picture portion, (b) information identifying the type of orthogonal transformation processing utilized for each respective picture portion, and (c) macroblock address information indicating the respective location of each macroblock, in which the type of predictive encoding utilized for each respective picture portion is selected from among the frame-based type predictive encoding and field-based type predictive encoding and in which the type of orthogonal transformation processing is selected from among the frame-based type orthogonal transformation processing and field-based orthogonal transformation processing so as to provide a relatively high efficient encoding.

2. A recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said header information further includes macroblock type information which identifies the type of prediction associated with a respective macroblock.

3. A recording medium according to claim 2, wherein the type of prediction identified by said macroblock type information includes one of intra-prediction, forward prediction, backward prediction and bidirectional prediction.

4. A recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said macroblock address information is one of an absolute address and an incremental address.

5. A recording medium according to claim 4, wherein the recorded data has a data structure including a plurality of slices each having at least one of said macroblocks and wherein the macroblock address information for a first macroblock in a respective slice is said absolute address and the macroblock address information for each other macroblock in the respective slice is said incremental address which indicates a respective increment from the respective other macroblock to said first macroblock.