Video streaming with SP and SI frames

SP and SI frames are new picture types introduced in the latest video coding standard H.264. They allow driftfree bitstream switching and can also be used for error-resilience and random access. We investigate the benefits of SI and SP frames for error resilience as compared to periodic I frame insertion. We discuss the rate-distortion performance of SI and SP frames based on empirical rate-distortion curved obtained with our implementation of an SP/SI frame encoder. Experiments carried out over a simulated bandwidth-limited network analyze the influence of loss rate and delay on the congestion-rate-distortion performance of streaming with SI and SP frames. Our results help identify scenarios for which SI and SP frames provide an attractive alternative to streaming with I frames.