By Anne Aaron and Jan De Cock
Overview
The article discusses the ongoing relevance and evolution of video coding technology, emphasizing the importance of innovation in video compression methods to meet the growing demand for high-quality video streaming. It highlights the active involvement of industry and academia in developing new standards and techniques to enhance video delivery in various contexts.
What You'll Learn
1
How to leverage new video coding standards like AV1 for efficient streaming
2
Why video compression is crucial for delivering high-quality experiences on limited bandwidth
3
How to engage with the video coding community to foster innovation
Key Questions Answered
Is video coding technology still relevant today?
Yes, video coding technology is very much alive and thriving, with IP video traffic accounting for 73% of total IP traffic in 2016 and projected to rise to 82% by 2021. This indicates a growing demand for efficient video compression methods.
What are the goals of the Alliance for Open Media?
The Alliance for Open Media aims to develop an open and royalty-free video codec that is efficient, cost-effective, high quality, and interoperable. This initiative led to the launch of the AV1 codec.
What is the significance of the Joint Video Experts Team's work?
The Joint Video Experts Team (JVET) was formed to develop a new video standard called Versatile Video Coding (VVC), which aims to surpass the capabilities of HEVC. The initiative attracted 32 institutions and 22 submissions, indicating strong industry interest.
How does PSNR relate to video quality assessment?
PSNR is currently the gold standard for evaluating encoding performance, but it does not accurately reflect human perception of video quality. This discrepancy necessitates the development of better automated video quality metrics.
Key Statistics & Figures
IP video traffic percentage
73%
In 2016, IP video traffic accounted for 73% of total IP traffic, expected to rise to 82% by 2021.
Peak download traffic from VOD services
60%
In North America, 60% of peak download traffic on fixed access networks was from Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, and Hulu.
Mobile data traffic from video applications
55%
Video applications occupied 55% of mobile data traffic in 2017, projected to increase to 75% by 2023.
Number of submissions to JVET's Call for Proposals
22
The Call for Proposals attracted 32 institutions with a combined 22 submissions for the new VVC standard.
Technologies & Tools
Video Codec
Av1
Developed by the Alliance for Open Media as an efficient, royalty-free video codec.
Video Codec
Hevc
Previous standard that VVC aims to surpass in capabilities.
Key Actionable Insights
1Engage with the video coding community through events like the Picture Coding Symposium to stay updated on the latest trends and innovations.Participating in such forums allows engineers to share knowledge, learn from peers, and contribute to the evolution of video coding technologies.
2Invest in research and development of new video coding techniques beyond traditional block-based methods.Exploring innovative approaches can lead to significant improvements in compression efficiency, which is crucial for delivering high-quality video experiences.
3Adopt collaborative practices between academia and industry to bridge the gap in video coding research and application.Fostering collaboration can enhance the practical application of research findings, leading to more effective video coding solutions.
Common Pitfalls
1
Relying solely on PSNR for video quality assessment can lead to misleading conclusions about perceived quality.
PSNR does not accurately reflect human perception, which can result in the dismissal of encoding techniques that may improve visual quality but perform poorly in PSNR evaluations.
Related Concepts
Video Compression Techniques
Next-generation Video Coding Standards
Collaboration Between Academia And Industry In Video Technology