Low-delay rate control for DCT video coding via ?-domain source modeling

By introducing the new concepts of characteristic rate curves and rate-curve decomposition, a generic source-modeling framework is developed for transform coding of videos. Based on this framework, the rate-quantization (R-Q) and distortion-quantization (D-Q) functions (collectively called R-D functions in this work) of the video encoder can be accurately estimated with very low computational complexity before quantization and coding. With the accurate estimation of the R-Q function, a frame-level rate control algorithm is proposed for DCT video coding. The proposed algorithm outperforms the TMN8 rate control algorithm by providing more accurate and robust rate regulation and better picture quality. Based on the estimated R-D functions, an encoder-based rate-shape-smoothing algorithm is proposed. With this smoothing algorithm, the output bit stream of the encoder has both a smoothed rate shape and a consistent picture quality, which are highly desirable in practical video coding and transmission.