Picture signal encoding method and apparatus and signal recording medium
US6167087A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 2, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 26, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 2, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N19/15
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A picture signal encoding apparatus on which, even if a picture is not uniform in picture pattern, the picture can be rendered substantially uniform in picture quality, the volume of bits occupying a virtual buffer is stabilized, deterioration in picture quality is rendered less visible and in which stable rate control is assured. The picture signal encoding apparatus, dividing a picture making up moving picture signals into plural macro-blocks MB and encoding the signals from one macro-block to another, includes a relative coding difficulty calculating circuit for calculating the relative coding difficulty from one macro-block to another MB, and a characteristic value calculating circuit for calculating the weighting coefficients (characteristic values) specifying visibility degree of picture quality deterioration from one macro-block MB to another. The picture signal encoding apparatus also includes a bit rate controller for calculating the quantization scale for encoding each macro-block MB using the complexity degree and the volume of allocated bits for macro-block-based encoding.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.