Segmentation and compression of video for delay-flow multimedia networks

Digital video coding has traditionally used frame-by-frame synchronous reconstruction. The transport must then be delayjitter-free, forcing the modern integrated service packet network such as the Internet to operate in an inefficient “circuit emulation” mode. This mode results in a jitter-free delay representative of the worst-case network delay, which is problematic for delay-sensitive interactive applications. In response, we have proposed and demonstrated a “delay cognizant” model of video coding (DCVC) that operates in an asynchronous reconstruction mode. DCVC minimizes the perceptual delay observed by the user, and still achieves good quality and high compression. Furthermore, the feasibility of asynchronous reconstruction is evidenced by vision science studies of spatiotemporal masking in human visual systems at temporal edges of video.