Study and Comparison of H.264, AVS- China and Dirac - by Jennie G. Abraham EE5359 – Multimedia Processing, Fall 2009 EE Dept., University of Texas at Arlington

Outline  Introduction  Multimedia Network  Home Media Ecosystem  Motivation  Project Detail  Example project elements  Architecture Comparison  Design Level Analysis  Feature Comparison  Algorithmic Comparison  Performance Comparison  Conclusions  References

Introduction What? - Video compression standards  aiming at high quality - In general standards leave the implementation open and only standardize the syntax and the decoder. Optimization beyond the obvious Complexity reduction for implementation Who? - H.264 : ITU-T VCEG together with the ISO/IEC MPEG - AVS China : Audio Video Coding Workgroup of China - Dirac : BBC Why? - Different companies, different countries, different applications, royalty fees, better algorithms

Motivation Familiarize with the codecs : H.264, AVS China and Dirac Availability of the codecs in UTA

Scope of Video Standard Figure 1: Video encoding / decoding process Predict Transform QuantizeEncod e DecodeInverse- Quantization Inverse transform Reconstruct VIDEO ENCODER VIDEO DECODER Bitstream as defined by the standard Scope of the standard Video Output Video Source

Video Compression Figure 2: General block diagram of a block-based video codec [33]

Intra Coding …. within the same frame Figure 3: Intra coding a macroblock using previously coded pixels from the same block

Inter Coding... “Past” frames... (one or more previously coded frames) Current frame“Future” frame Predict MB 1 MB 2 Predict …. using number past and future frames Figure 4: Inter coding a macroblock using past and/or future frames

Modes Figure 5: Example of different modes used in AVS-China part 2 [33]

Residual Block Figure 6: Calculation of residual information in a general block-based video codec [33]

Transform and Quantization residual block Transform Quantize 8x8 Image Block Coefficients Figure 7: Residual block is transformed and quantized

Entropy Coding Figure 8:The Transformed and quantized block zigzag scanned and entropy coded

Inverse Transform Reconstructed residual block At the decoder side ….. Re-scaled Coefficients Figure 9:The coefficients are re-scaled and inverse transformed to get back the residual information

Reconstruction at the Decoder Form Prediction Predicted MB Decoded residual MB Reconstructe d MB Previously decoded frames Current decoded frames InterIntra Figure 10: Frame reconstruction at the decoder

Study of H.264 Architecture Figure 11: H.264 encoder and decoder [21]

Study of AVS-China Architecture Figure 12 :AVS China Codec [37]

Study of Dirac Architecture Figure 13 : Dirac codec architecture [1]

Profiles in H.264

Profiles in AVS-China ProfilesKey applications Jizhun profile (base) Television broadcasting, HDTV, etc. Jiben profile (basic) Mobility applications, etc. Shenzhan profile (extended) Video surveillance, etc. Jiaqiang profile (enhanced) Multimedia entertainment, etc.

Algorithmic Comparison Algorithmic ElementMPEG-4 AVC (H.264) DiracAVS China Part 2 Intra Prediction4x4 spatial, 16x16 spatial I-PCM 4x4 spatial8×8 block based Intra Prediction Picture coding typeFrame, Field Picture AFF, MB AFF Frame Motion compensation block size 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×8, 8×4, 4×8, 4×4 4×416×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×8 Motion vector PrecisionFull pel, Half pel. Quarter pel1/8 pel1/4 pel P frame typeSingle reference Multiple reference Single reference, Multiple reference Single and multiple reference (maximum of 2 reference frames) B frame typeOne reference each way, Multiple reference, Direct & spatial direct weighted prediction. One reference each way, Multiple reference One reference each way, Multiple reference. Direct and symmetrical mode. In loop filtersDe-blockingNoneDe-blocking filter. Entropy codingCAVLC,CABACArithmetic coding2D variable length coding. Transform4×4 integer DCT, 8×8 integer DCT 4×4 wavelet transform8×8 DCT OtherQuantization scaling matrices.

Performance Comparison Results

Results

Outcome The project helped in increasing familiarity in working with these codecs. The experimental results gave an insight into the efficiency of these codecs compared to each other The different aspects of simulation of each codec such as the following was learned and understood Modes of Configuration Modification of Parameters Input sequence specifications Analyze the codec output Efficient use of time and re-use of knowledge

References DIRAC: [1] T. Borer, and T. Davies, “Dirac video compression using open technology”, BBC EBU Technical Review, July 2005 [2] BBC Research on Dirac: [3] The Dirac web page: [4] T. Davies, “The Dirac Algorithm”: [5] Dirac developer support: Overlapped block-based motion compensation: [6] “Dirac Pro to bolster BBC HD links”: bbc-hd-links/ articlehttp:// bbc-hd-links/ article [7] Dirac software and source code: [8] Dirac video codec - A programmer's guide: [9] Daubechies wavelet: [10] Daubechies wavelet filter design: [11] Dirac developer support: Wavelet transform: [12] Dirac developer support: RDO motion estimation metric: [13] A. Ravi and K.R. Rao, “Performance analysis and comparison of the Dirac video codec with H.264/ MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC", IJWMIP, Jan

References H.264: [14] T.Wiegand, et al “Overview of the H.264/AVC video coding standard”, IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, Vol.13, pp , July [15] T. Wiegand and G. J. Sullivan, “The H.264 video coding standard”, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 24, pp , March [16] D. Marpe, T. Wiegand and G. J. Sullivan, “The H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard and its applications”, IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 44, pp , Aug [17] S.K.Kwon, A.Tamhankar and K.R.Rao, “Overview of H.264 / MPEG-4 Part 10” J. Visual Communication and Image Representation, Vol 17, pp , April [18] A. Puri, X. Chen and A. Luthra, “Video coding using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression standard”, Signal Processing: Image Communication, vol. 19, pp , Oct [19] H.264/MPEG-4 AVC: [20] M.Fieldler, “Implementation of basic H.264/AVC decoder”, seminar paper at Chemnitz University of Technology, June 2004 [21] H.264 encoder and decoder: [22] R. Schäfer, T. Wiegand and H. Schwarz, “The emerging H.264/AVC standard”, EBU Technical Review, Jan [23] H.264 reference software download : [24] D. Marpe, T. Wiegand, and S. Gordon, "H.264/mpeg4-avc fidelity range extensions: tools, profiles, performance, and application areas," IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, vol. 1, pp. I-593-6, [25] S. Saponara, et al, "The JVT advanced video coding standard: complexity and performance analysis on a tool- by-tool basis," in Packet Video Workshop, Nantes, France, April 2003.

References VC-1: [26] VC-1 technical overview [27] Microsoft Windows Media: [28] [29] S Srinivasan, et al, “Windows media video 9: overview and applications”, Signal Processing: Image Communication, Vol. 19, Issue 9, pp , Oct AVS: [31] AVS Video Expert Group, “Information technology – Advanced coding of audio and video – Part 2: Video (AVS1-P2 JQP FCD 1.0),” Audio Video Coding Standard Group of China (AVS), Doc. AVS-N1538, Sep [32] AVS Video Expert Group, “Information technology – Advanced coding of audio and video – Part 3: Audio,” Audio Video Coding Standard Group of China (AVS), Doc. AVS-N1551, Sep [33] L. Yu et al., “Overview of AVS-Video: Tools, performance and complexity,” SPIE VCIP, vol. 5960, pp ~ , Beijing, China, July [34] L. Fan, S Ma and F Wu, “Overview of AVS video standard,” IEEE Int’l Conf. on Multimedia and Expo, ICME '04, vol. 1, pp. 423–426, Taipei, Taiwan, June [35] W Gao et al., “AVS – The Chinese next-generation video coding standard,” National Association of Broadcasters, Las Vegas, [36] Special issue on 'AVS and its Applications' Signal Processing: Image Communication, vol. 24, pp , April [37] AVS China software : ftp:// /public/avs_doc/avs_softwareftp:// /public/avs_doc/avs_software

References PERFORMANCE COMPARISON: [38] K. Onthriar, K. K. Loo and Z. Xue, “Performance comparison of emerging Dirac video codec with H.264/AVC”, IEEE International Conference on Digital Telecommunications, Vol. 06, Page: 22, Issue: 29-31, Aug [39] X. Wang and D. Zhao "Performance comparison of AVS and H.264/AVC video coding standards" J. of computer science and technology, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp , May [40] Comparison of H.264 and VC-1: [41] A. A. Ramirez, et al. "MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC-1 codecs comparison used in IPTV video streaming technology," Electronics, Robotics and Automotive Mechanics Conference, pp , [42] Comparison between AVC/H.264, VC-1 and MPEG [43] H. Kalva and J.B Lee, “The VC-1 and H.264 video compression standards for broadband video Services”, Springer, 2008 SSIM: [44] Z. Wang, et al “Image quality assessment: From error visibility to structural similarity”, IEEE Trans. on Image Processing, vol. 13, pp , Apr [45] SSIM index for image quality assessment: [46] Z. Wang, et al “Multi-scale structural similarity for image quality assessment,” IEEE Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, Vol.2, pp Nov Multi-scale structural similarity for image quality assessment [47] SSIM: VIDEO TEST SEQUENCES: [48] Video test sequences (YUV 4:2:0): [49] Video test sequences ITU601: BOOKS: [50] I. Richardson, “ The H.264 advanced video compression standard”, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010