Shot Boundary Detection Using Macroblock Prediction Type Information

The increasing availability and use of digital video has led to a high demand for efficient video analysis techniques. The starting point in video browsing and retrieval systems is the low-level analysis of video content, especially the segmentation of video content into shots. In this paper, we propose a method for automatic video indexing based on the macroblock prediction type information of MPEG-4 Visual compressed video bitstreams with varying GOP structures. This method exploits the decisions made by the encoder in the motion estimation phase, resulting in specific characteristics of the macroblock prediction type information when shot boundaries occur. By working on compressed domain information, full frame decoding of MPEG-4 Visual bitstreams is avoided. Hence, fast segmentation can be achieved compared to metrics in the uncompressed domain.