Weighing the Advantages of Scalable Digital Video

As the theme of this conference suggests, in the past year we have become increasingly aware of the rapid convergence of the computer, video, film, telecommunications and publishing industries. While in the past, each of these industries developed their standards independently from one another, it is becoming increasingly obvious that future systems must be constructed so as to allow data to move freely between all users in all environments. The history of past attempts, and the proliferation of imaging standards in these industries, leads to the obvious conclusion that there are no common denominators upon which we can construct a global digital communications system. However, if one looks beyond the obvious, and examines the nature of a totally digital communications system - one with vastly improved bandwidth as well as point to point and multi-point switching capabilities - a not so obvious conclusion can be reached: The system should operate as much as possible without the need for any standards. From this point of view, backward compatibility to all previous standards becomes a reality. This paper will explore some of the requirements for a scalable digital video system that provides backward compatibility with both analog and digital imaging standards, as well as a solid foundation on which higher resolution imaging systems can be built.

Published

1992-02

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/M00727

ISBN

978-1-61482-941-6