Multimedia Communication

(SW-416)
VIDEO

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Video
Of all the Multimedia elements, video places the highest performance demand
on your computer and its memory. It delivers more information per second than
the others.
Analog video is used as a broadcast medium.
◦ The video that you see on TV, on cable TV, or a VCR is broadcast in analog format.

It combines brightness, colour and synchronisation information in the one signal.

This combining can result in loss of quality especially when copied repeatedly.

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Analog Video
An analog signal f(t) samples a time-varying image.
So-called “progressive” scanning traces through a complete picture (a frame)
row-wise for each time interval.
In TV, and in some monitors and multimedia standards as well, another system,
called “interlaced” scanning is used:
◦ a) The odd-numbered lines are traced first, and then the even-numbered lines are traced. This results in
“odd” and “even” fields — two fields make up one frame.
◦ b) In fact, the odd lines (starting from 1) end up at the middle of a line at the end of the odd field, and
the even scan starts at a half-way point.
◦ c) First the solid (odd) lines are traced, P to Q, then R to S, etc., ending at T; then the even field starts at
U and ends at V.
◦ d) The jump from Q to R, etc. in Figure 5.1 is called the horizontal retrace, during which the electronic
beam in the CRT is blanked. The jump from T to U or V to P is called the vertical retrace.

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Analog Video
Because of interlacing, the odd
and even lines are displaced in
time from each other — generally
not noticeable except when very
fast action is taking place on
screen, when blurring may occur.

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Analog Video Broadcast Standards
NTSC
NTSC (National Television System Committee )
The first color TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in
1953.
National Television System Committee is used in US and Japan.
It displays 30 frames per second. Each frame contains 16 million different colors.
Each full-Screen frame is composed of 525 horizontal lines drawn onto the inside
face of a phosphor-coated picture tube every 1/30th of a second by a fast
moving electron beam.

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Analog Video Broadcast Standards
PAL
The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's
and implemented in most European countries (except for France), China, India
and many other parts of the world.

The PAL standard utilizes a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for
better picture quality.
PAL runs on 625 lines/frame.
It displays 25 frames per second.
4:3 aspect ratio and interlaced fields.

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Analog Video Broadcast Standards
PAL
(a) PAL uses the YUV color model. It uses an 8 MHz channel and allocates a
bandwidth of 5.5 MHz to Y, and 1.8 MHz each to U and V.
◦ The color subcarrier frequency is fsc ≈ 4.43 MHz.
(b) In order to improve picture quality, chroma signals have alternate signs (e.g.,
+U and -U) in successive scan lines, hence the name “Phase Alternating Line”.
(c) This facilitates the use of a (line rate) comb filter at the receiver — the signals
in consecutive lines are averaged so as to cancel the chroma signals (that always
carry opposite signs) for separating Y and C and obtaining high quality Y signals.

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Analog Video Broadcast Standards
SECAM
The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire; French for "Sequential Color
with Memory") standard was introduced in the early 1960s and implemented
first in France.
SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the color information
sequentially. SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame at 25 frames per second, with a 4:3
aspect ratio and interlaced fields.

It is, historically, the first European color television standard.

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Analog Video Broadcast
Technical Details
Just as with the other color standards adopted for broadcast usage over the
world, SECAM is a compatible standard, which means that monochrome
television receivers predating its introduction are still able to show the
programs.
Because of this compatibility requirement, color standards add a second signal
to the basic monochrome signal, and this signal carries the color information,
called chrominance or C in short, while the black and white information is called
the luminance (Y in short).
Old TV receivers only display the luminance, while color receivers process both
signals.

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Comparison of Analog Video Broadcast
Total Bandwidth Allocation (MHz)
TV Frame # of Scan Channel Y I or U Q or V
System Rate (fps) Lines Width
(MHz)
NTSC 29.97 525 6.0 4.2 1.6 0.6
PAL 25 625 8.0 5.5 1.8 1.8
SECAM 25 625 8.0 6.0 2.0 2.0

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Digital Video Broadcast
DVB, short for Digital Video Broadcasting, is a suite of Internationally accepted
open standards for digital television.
DVB standards are maintained by the DVB Project, and they are published by a
Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI) and European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
It is not subject to generational loss because each copy is an identical copy of
the original. Its advantages are
◦ direct access to any part of the video
◦ seamless editing
◦ integration with computer software
◦ transmit via internet etc
◦ manipulate image digitally
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Digital Television (DTV)
•Standard definition
–704  480, 16:9 and 4:3, progressive and interlaced
–640  480, 4:3, progressive and interlaced

•High definition
–1920  1080, 16:9, progressive and interlaced
–1280  720, 16:9, progressive and interlaced
–MPEG-2

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Digital Video Broadcast
MPEG-2 was selected for the source coding of audio and video data.
Multichannel microwave Distribution Systems (MMDS) was suited for data
distribution to households over telephone connections.
ETSI standards also describe MMDS for use at frequencies above 10 GHz (DVB-
MS).
ETSI 749 is applicable to frequencies below 10 GHz. This specification is based
on DVB-C technology (Satellite connections).

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Digital Video Features
Frame Rate: (Number of frames per second)
Frame rate, the number of still pictures per unit of time of video, ranges from six
or eight frames per second (frame/sec) for old mechanical cameras to 120 or
more frames per second for new professional cameras.
The minimum frame rate to achieve the illusion of a moving image is about
fifteen frames per second.
Bit rate is a measure of the rate of information content in a video stream. It is
quantified using the bit per second (bps) or Megabits per second (mbps). A
higher bit rate allows better video quality. For example VideoCD, with a bit rate
of about 1 mbps, is lower quality than DVD, with a bit rate of about 5 mbps. HD
(High Definition Digital Video and TV) has a still higher quality, with a bit rate of
about 20 mbps.
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Digital Video Features
Frame size
Colour depth
◦ 8 bit, 16, 24 bit colour
Data rate
◦ lossy compression - quality issues
Non-interlaced

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High Definition
•Common high definition video formats:
– HDV
– DVCPro HD
– AVCHD
– AVC-Intra

•Different video cameras support different high def. format

•The name of the supported format is printed on the body of the video camera

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High definition cameras
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Commonalities Among High Definition Specifications
•Frame aspect ratio: 16:9
•Picture formats:
– 1080 and/or 720
– interlace and/or progress

•For 1080, possible frame sizes:

– 1440  1080 (pixel aspect ratio: 1.333)
– 1920  1080 (pixel aspect ratio: 1.0)

•For 720, possible frame sizes:

– 960  720 (pixel aspect ratio: 1.333)
– 1280  720 (pixel aspect ratio: 1.0)

•Color sampling methods:

– 4:2:0
– 4:2:2
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High Definition
HDV Format
Picture Format 720/25p, 720/30p, 1080/50i
720/50p, 720/60p 1080/60i
Pixel Dimensions 1280  720 1440  1080
Frame Aspect Ration 16:9
Pixel Aspect Ratio 1.0 1.33
Data Rate Video data only: approx. 19 Mbps approx. 25 Mbps
Color Sampling Method YUV 4:2:0
Audio Setting Sampling rate and 48 kHz
bit depth: 16-bit
Bit rate after 384 kbps
compression:

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Picture Format Notation
1080 / 60 i

"i": interlaced
"p": progressive

frame/field frequency
frame height

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Frame Size (Resolution) Comparison between Standard
Definition and High Definition

By viewing frame size

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Frame Size (Resolution) Comparison between Standard
Definition and High Definition

By pixel dimensions
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Frame Size (Resolution) Comparison between Standard
Definition and High Definition

Same frame as 720p

A frame from a 1080i video

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Frame Size (Resolution) Comparison between Standard
Definition and High Definition

Same frame as standard definition DV wide-screen (16:9)

Same frame as standard definition DV standard 4:3

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Video Compression
Several standard video compression algorithms (codecs), are being widely
used on various platforms. Codecs (compressor/decompressors) are
drivers that convert from one format type to another.
By using codecs for compressing audio and video data into smaller
packages, network and multimedia applications provide richer and fuller
content and don't consume as much hard disk space or network
bandwidth as non-compressed methods.

File Size(bits)= fps x resolution x bit-depth x no. of seconds

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Video Compression
Factors Affecting Compression
Frames Per Second(fps)
◦ The maximum rate of the playback system depends on the speed of its components, CPU,
hard drive, and display card.
◦ If fps rate is higher than maximum rate of the playback system, it will result in jerky motion
since system will not display certain frames. This is known as frame dropping.
Key Frames
◦ A key frame is a base line frame against which the following frames are compared for
differences.
◦ More frequently the key frame is displayed, the better the quality of video.
Data Rate
◦ Single-speed CD-ROM, data rate: 90-100 KB
◦ Double speed CD-ROM, data rate: 150-200 KB
◦ Triple speed CD-ROM, data rate 300KB
◦ Quad speed CD-ROM, data rate 550-600 KB

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Video Compression
Microsoft Video 1 codec: This compressor is best used in converting analog video into digital
format. This is lossy compressor and supports color depth of 8 bits or 16 bits.
Microsoft RLE codec: This compressor is used often for compressing animation and computer
generated images. It supports only 256 colors.
Cinepak Codec: This compressor is used for compressing 24 bits for playback from CD-ROM disk.
In Cinepak decompression is mush faster than compression since it is asymmetric.
Intel Indeo Video codec: this compressor is very similar to Cinepak, and is used for digitizing
video.
MPEG-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4, MPEG-7
H.261

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Picture Frames
•There are three types of pictures (or frames) used in video compression: I-frames, P-frames,
and B-frames.
•An I-frame is an 'Intra-coded picture', in effect a fully-specified picture, like a conventional
static image file. P-frames and B-frames hold only a particular part of the image
information, so they need less space to store than an I-frame, and thus improve video
compression rates.
•A P-frame ('Predicted picture') holds only the changes in the image from the previous
frame. For example, in a scene where a car moves across a stationary background, only the
car's movements need to be encoded. The encoder does not need to store the unchanging
background pixels in the P-frame, thus saving space. P-frames are also known as
delta-frames.
•B-frame ('Bi-predictive picture') saves even more space by using differences between the
current frame and both the preceding and following frames to specify its content.

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Picture Frames
I

B
B
P
B
B
P
I
Time Axis

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Picture Frames
The MPEG standard allows as many as three B-pictures in a row, the number of
I-pictures is typically two per second which means that P-pictures are used to
forward predict two-to-five following P-pictures before another I picture is
coded.

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