Subjective assessment of H.264-AVC video for low-bitrate multimedia messaging services

In this work we investigate the performance of the H.264/AVC video coding standard for low bit rate mobile multimedia messaging services (MMS). We focus on the appropriate selection of the quantization parameter and the temporal resolution. For this purpose, a psychovisual experiment has been designed. It is revealed that only limited set of parameter values is necessary to span almost the entire range of quality levels. In general quantization parameters of 34 frame rates of 10 fps and bit rates below 64 kbit/s are sufficient to provide good quality. Sports sequences ask for slightly higher frame rate, 15 fps is sufficient. To provide sufficient quality, quantization parameters below 40 and frame rates below 5 fps should definitely not be used.