Dynamic coding for visual communications

In this paper, a new approach to the problem of visual data representation in the framework of multimedia is introduced. The approach, named dynamic coding, consists in a dynamic combination of multiple representation models and segmentation strategies. Given an application, these two degrees of freedom are assembled so as to yield a specific profile which meets the specifications dictated by the application. The data is represented as the union of data segments, each described with a locally appropriate representation model. In order to illustrate this approach, a video compression system, based on the principles of dynamic coding, is proposed in the context of video-telephone/conference applications.