Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE J
Volume: 109, No. 3, pp. 178–187
Abstract: This paper presents the results of subjective viewer assessment of the quality of MPEG-2 compressed video containing wideband Gaussian noise. The video test sequences consisted of seven clips (both classical and new materials) to which noise with a peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of 28 to 47 dB was added. Software encoding and decoding was performed at five bit rates ranging from 1.8 to 13.9 Mbits/sec. A panel of 32 viewers rated the difference between the noisy input and the compression-processed output. For low noise levels, the subjective data suggests that compression at higher bit rates can actually improve the quality of the output. effectively acting as a low-pass filter. Defining an objective and a subjective measure of scene criticality allows finding the two meaures that correlate for the data. For difficult-to-encode material (high criticality), the data suggests that the effects of compression may be less noticeable at mid-level noise. In contrast, for easy-to-encode video (low criticality), the addition of a moderate amount of noise to the input led to lower scores. This suggests that either the compression process may have reduced noise impairments or a form of masking may occur in scenes that have high levels of spatial detail.
Publication Date: 2000-03-01
DOI: 10.5594/J08345
ISSN: Print: 0036-1682
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J08345
Author(s): Charles FenimoreNational Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg
bio
Charles Fenimore graduated from Union College with a BS degree and from Berkeley with a Ph.D. in mathematics. He has worked on computational models for fluid and electrically driven flows at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and at NIST. For several years, Fenimore has worked on measurements and models for quality assessment of moving digital imagery. This includes the development of measurements as well as the production of synthetic imagery and the acquisition of natural imagery as “probes” of compression systems.
John LibertNational Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg
bio
Stephen Wolf received a BSEE from Montana State University in 1979 and an MS in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. Since 1988, he has been project leader for the Video Quality Standards Project at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, an agency of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in Boulder, CO. During this time, he developed innovative methods for performing in-service digital video quality measurements for which he was awarded two U.S. patents. Wolf, an active participant and contributor to the standardization activities of both ANSI and the ITU, has served as technical editor for two video performance standards, ANSI T1.801.01-1995 (Video Test Scenes) and ANSI T1.801.03–1996 (Objective Video Performance Parameters).
Stephen WolfInstitute for Telecommunications Sciences
bio
John M. Libert received a BS degree in experimental psychology and an MS in quantitative geology from the University of Maryland in 1970 and 1981, respectively. Joining Vitro Corp. in 1986 as principal investigator of its Signal and Image Analysis Laboratory, he led research to develop computational vision methods for image motion perception and stereopsis. He consulted with Sandia National Laboratories in developing a moving target detector for an infrared broad area surveillance system. In 1997, Libert joined the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology where he currently conducts research in video quality measurements a part of NIST's Video Technology Project.
Copyright: © 2000 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

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7. Abramowitz M. Stegun I. , Handbook of Mathematical Publications , Dover 1972 . EXTERNAL
8. ANSI T1.801.03–1996, “Digital Transport of One-Way Video Telephony Signals–Parameters for Objective Performance Assessment,” Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions , Washington, DC . EXTERNAL
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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 3, March 2000); SMPTE, 2000. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J08345

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 3, March 2000); SMPTE, 2000. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J08345

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<span class="citation">Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; <cite>Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 3, March 2000); SMPTE, 2000. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/J08345" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/J08345</a></span>

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 3, March 2000); SMPTE, 2000
doi: 10.5594/J08345
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/J08345

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j08345">Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 3, March 2000); SMPTE, 2000
<span class="doi">10.5594/J08345</span>
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