Hybrid Multiple Description Coding Based on H.264

Multiple description (MD) video coding is one of the approaches that can be used to reduce the detrimental effects caused by transmission over error-prone networks. A number of approaches have been proposed for MD coding, where each provides a different tradeoff between compression efficiency and error resilience. This paper first presents two basic MD coding methods; one segments the video in the spatial domain, while the other in the frequency domain. Then a hybrid MD coding method is proposed. The hybrid MD encoder segments the video in both the spatial and frequency domains. In the case of data loss, the hybrid MD decoder takes advantage of the residual-pixel correlations in the spatial domain, and the coefficient correlations in the frequency domain, for error concealment. As a result, better error resilience can be achieved at high compression efficiency. The advantages of the proposed hybrid MD method are demonstrated in the contexts of descriptor loss in ideal channels and in packet-loss networks.