High Efficiency Video Coding: Coding Tools and Specification

The video coding standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) targets at improved compression performance for video resolutions of HD and beyond, providing Ultra HD video at similar compressed bit rates as for HD video encoded with the well-established video coding standard H.264/AVC. Based on known concepts, new coding structures and improved coding tools have been developed and specified in HEVC. The standard is expected to be taken up easily by established industry as well as new endeavors, answering the needs of todays connected and ever-evolving online world.

This book presents the High Efficiency Video Coding standard and explains it in a clear and coherent language. It provides a comprehensive and consistently written description, all of a piece. The book targets at both, newbies to video coding as well as experts in the field. While providing sections with introductory text for the beginner, it suits as a well-arranged reference book for the expert. The book provides a comprehensive reference for the technical details of the employed coding tools; it further outlines the algorithmic advances compared to H.264/AVC. In addition to the technical aspects, the book provides insight to the general concepts of standardization, how specification text is written, and how these concepts apply to the HEVC specification.

Dr. Ing. Mathias Wien is a recognized expert in the field of video coding. He is working as a senior research scientist and head of administration at the Institute of Communications Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. His research interests are in the area of image and video processing, space-frequency adaptive and scalable video compression and robust video transmission. He has more than 10 years of experience in video coding standardization. He was an active contributor to the first version of the H.264/AVC standard and to VCEG, MPEG and the Joint Video Team (JVT) where he co-chaired several AdHoc Groups. He served as one of the editors of the amendment to H.264/AVC for Scalable Video Coding (SVC, 2007). He has participated as a proponent in the Call for Proposals for HEVC and closely follows the JCT-VC development.