Low-bit-rate scalable compression of mobile wireless video

Low bit rate video coding has triggered intensive research in both academia and industry. To address the problem of heterogeneity, and meeting a very small bandwidth of mobile wireless networks, low bit rate scalable video compression is becoming more important. This paper discusses the current approach to wireless visual communications for the need of low bit rate scalable video compression, using discrete wavelet transform techniques. The discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has provided an efficient framework of multiresolution space-frequency representation with promising applications in image processing. This codec is based on 3D wavelet coding and adaptive quantization of the subbands coefficients. A common problem with some existing quantization methods is that the inherent image structures are severely distorted with course quantization. The Moving Picture Expert Group-4 (MPEG-4), an important component of the ITU standard is referred to as the benchmark of video standards for low bit rate video transmission