AVC-I: Yet Another Intra Codec for Broadcast Contribution?

Pierre Larbier

The availability of fiber and high-speed internet protocol networks enables the use of intra video codecs in a range of contribution applications. Such formats permit low end-to-end delays and are easily editable. In addition, their reduced complexity allows significant equipment cost reduction over long group of pictures equivalents. These well-known advantages have paved the way for a variety of proprietary and standardized solutions, such as VC-2, VC-3, and JPEG-2000. AVC-Intra (AVC-I) is an MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 profile created by capping complexity and removing encoding tools from the standard's broadcast contribution profiles. This simple concept promises straightforward compatibility among equipment from various vendors. But it remains to be seen, beyond academic research, whether AVC-I products are able to meet and exceed the quality levels and operational advantages of intra codecs currently in use.

Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
2160-2492
Published
2012-07
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/j18187