H.264

H.264, also known as MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Codec), is a video compression standard developed in 2003 and a widely used format for high-fidelity video recording, compression, and distribution. H.264 is known to be the standard codec for Blu-ray discs. All Blu-ray players must be able to decode H.264. The vast majority of modern video recorders (DVRs) use H.264 as their main codec.

An H.264 video encoder carries out prediction, transform and encoding processes to produce a compressed H.264 bitstream. An H.264 video decoder carries out the complementary processes of decoding, inverse transform and reconstruction to produce a decoded video sequence.

H.264 Transform and quantization

A block of residual samples is transformed using a 4x4 or 8x8 integer transform, an approximate form of the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). The transform outputs a set of coefficients, each of which is a weighting value for a standard basis pattern. When combined, the weighted basis patterns re-create the block of residual samples. Figure 4 shows how the inverse DCT creates an image block by weighting each basis pattern according to a coefficient value and ombining the weighted basis patterns.

The output of the transform, a block of transform coefficients, is quantized, i.e. each coefficient is divided by an integer value. Quantization reduces the precision of the transform coefficients according to a quantization parameter (QP). Typically, the result is a block in which most or all of the coefficients are zero, with a few non-zero coefficients. Setting QP to a high value means that more coefficients are set to zero, resulting in high compression at the expense of poor decoded image quality. Setting QP to a low value means that more non-zero coefficients remain after quantization, resulting in better decoded image quality but lower compression.

Read More: H.264 vs H.265 - AVC vs HEVC - What’s the difference?