Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression

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Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY
Doc Type: Conference Paper
Content Type: Original Research
Volume: 1998, No. 7, pp. 1–17
Abstract: We present results of subjective viewer assessment of video quality of MPEG-2 compressed video containing wide-band Gaussian noise. The video test sequences consisted of seven test clips (both classical and new materials) to which noise with a peak-signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR) of from 28 dB to 47 dB was added. We used software encoding and decoding at five bit-rates ranging from 1.8 Mb/s to 13.9 Mb/s. Our 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 like a low-pass filter. We define an objective and a subjective measure of scene criticality (the difficulty of compressing a clip) and find the two measures correlate for our data. For difficult-to-encode material (high criticality), the data suggest that the effects of compression may be less noticeable at mid-level noise, while for easy-to-encode video (low criticality), the addition of a moderate amount of noise to the input led to lower quality 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: 1998-10-01
DOI: 10.5594/M00301
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/M00301
Author(s): Charles FenimoreNational Institute of Standards and Technology
John LibertNational Institute of Standards and Technology
Stephen WolfInstitute for Telecommunications Sciences
Copyright: © 1998 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

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3. Wolf S. , “Subjective and Objective Measures of Scene Criticality,” ITU Experts Meeting on subjective and objective audiovisual quality assessment methods, SG 12 document number JRG010, Turin, October, 1997 . EXTERNAL
5. ITU-R Recommendation BT.601, “Encoding Parameters of Digital Television For Studios,” Recommendations of the ITU, Radiocommunication Sector. EXTERNAL
6. ITU-R Recommendation BT.802–1, Test Pictures and sequences for subjective assessments of digital codecs conveying signals produced according to ITU-R Recommendation BT.601–4. EXTERNAL
7. Abramowitz M. Stegun I. , Handbook of Mathematical Publications , p. 953 , Dover [ 1972 ]. EXTERNAL
8. ANSI T1.801.03–1996, “American National Standard for Telecommunications - Digital Transport of One-Way Video Telephony Signals - Parameters for Objective Performance Assessment,” Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, 1200 G Street, N. W., Suite 500, Washington DC 20005. EXTERNAL
9. Crutchfield E.B. , Ed., National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook , Seventh Edition , Washington, DC , National Association of Broadcasters , pp. 4 . 1–38 to 4.1–40, [ 1985 ]. EXTERNAL

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( October 1998); SMPTE, 1998. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/M00301

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( October 1998); SMPTE, 1998. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/M00301

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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 Meetings and Conferences ( October 1998); SMPTE, 1998. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/M00301" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/M00301</a></span>

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( October 1998); SMPTE, 1998
doi: 10.5594/M00301
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/M00301

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Charles Fenimore, John Libert, and Stephen Wolf; <cite id="bib-10-5594-m00301">Perceptual Effects of Noise in Digital Video Compression</cite>, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( October 1998); SMPTE, 1998
<span class="doi">10.5594/M00301</span>
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