In this chapter characteristics of video signals are discussed which will help in understanding how they can be exploited for bandwidth reduction without actually introducing perceptual distortions. Image formation and colour video are discussed. Interlaced/progressive video is explained, and its impact on the signal bandwidth and display units is discussed. Representation of video in digital form and the need for bit rate reductions are addressed. Finally, the image formats to be coded for various applications and their quality assessments are analysed.

Inspec keywords: video coding; image representation; display devices; image colour analysis; bandwidth compression

Other keywords: interlaced video compression; bandwidth reduction; image coding; progressive video; bit rate reduction; video signal generation; signal display unit; video representation; quality assessment; image formation; signal bandwidth; image colour video

Subjects: Image and video coding