SP picture for scalable video coding

Abstract

This paper investigates an extension of the SP picture from the H.264/AVC to the scalable video coding (SVC), which has been recently developed and standardized as the scalable extension of the H.264/AVC In comparison with the scalable profiles of previous video coding standards, the SVC has achieved significant improvement in both coding efficiency and scalability in temporal, spatial and fidelity, which efficiently provides coded stream wide adaptivity to dynamic network conditions as well as diverse clients. In communication environments, this efficient adaptivity can be provided by bit stream switching between different scalable layers. The current SVC supports bit stream switching only at instantaneous decoding refresh (IDR) access unit. However, in order to provide instantaneous switching capability, the IDR picture needs to be frequently coded in the SVC stream, which dramatically decreases the coding efficiency. Therefore, SP picture for the SVC is proposed in this paper for efficient bit stream switching. Performance analysis shows that the SP picture for the SVC provides an average 1.2 dB PSNR enhancement over the IDR picture while providing similar functionalities. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.