What is MPEG video syntax ?
MPEG video syntax provides an efficient way to represent image sequences in the form of more compact coded data. The language of the coded bits is the “syntax.” For example, a few tokens amounting to only, say, 100 bits can represent an entire block of 64 samples rather transparently (“you can’t tell the difference”) which otherwise normally consume (64*8), or, 512 bits. MPEG also describes a decoding (reconstruction) process where the coded bits are mapped from the compact representation into the original, “raw” format of the image sequence. For example, a flag in the coded bitstream signals whether the following bits are to be decoded with a DCT algorithm or with a prediction algorithm. The algorithms comprising the decoding process are regulated by the semantics defined by MPEG. This syntax can be applied to exploit common video characteristics such as spatial redundancy, temporal redundancy, uniform motion, spatial masking, etc. MPEG Myths Because it’s new and sometimes hard to und
