Pre- and post-processing algorithms for compressed video enhancement

Standards-based video compression algorithms are rapidly becoming the preferred method for transmitting image sequences. Prominent examples include the MPEG and ITU family of standards. However, it is important to realize that these standards are not bit-exact, in that only the operation of the decoder is defined by the specification. Development of the rate-control mechanism and pre- and post-processing procedures is completely controlled by the system designer, and these components can introduce discernible differences between two standards compliant realizations. We survey the fields of pre- and post-processing techniques for video compression. We then discuss our current work on compression enhancement algorithms. These algorithms are applicable to any compression standard but are discussed within the context of MPEG-2.