The book covers the principles, algorithms, and standards of state-of-the-art scalable video coding methods that can support a wide range of Internet and wireless multimedia applications. The book starts with a general overview of scalable video coding including SNR, temporal, and spatial scalabilities that have been proposed since the development of the MPEG-2 standard. After the general overview, the book focuses on two of the most promising areas in scalable video coding. First, a thorough coverage of the MPEG-4 Fine-Granularity-Scalable (FGS) video coding method and many of the related early and recent work on FGS is provided. This includes many of the extensions (supported by MPEG-4) such as selective enhancement and frequency weighting, and new approaches (not covered by MPEG-4) such as motion-compensation based methods within the enhancement layer. Second, the book focuses on wavelets based video coding methods. In particular, selected Motion Compensation-Wavelets (MCW) video solutions are covered in detail. A variety of traditional and advanced MCW based methods, including ones that have been considered by the ISO MPEG committee under a new standardization activity, are covered in the book.

A thorough coverage of the most popular scalable video coding methods Detail description of the latest video coding standard - MPGE-4 FGS - and all relevant extensions A selective yet thoroughgoing treatment of state-of-the-art Motion-Compensated Wavelets video coding algorithms and standardization activities Invaluable reference for engineers and professionals designing new and emerging wireless, mobile, and Internet multimedia applications and services Appropriate level of details for designing and implementing practical scalable video coding solutions Written by two of the most active and respected experts in the area