Rate control for improved picture quality in low bit rate video coding

In low bit rate coding applications, high quantization levels might be needed to achieve a target bit rate. However, such high levels of quantization are likely to decrease picture quality. A possible solution is to reduce temporal resolution by dropping, for instance, selected frames thereby lessening the requirement for high quantization levels and thus improving video quality. Similarly, the spatial resolution of the encoded video could also be manipulated to achieve the target bit rate. Therefore, it might be possible to maximize picture quality by adjusting dynamically these three parameters while still meeting bit rate constraints. To do so effectively, the relationship between these parameters, alone or in combination, and subjective picture quality must be known. In this paper, we investigated the effect on subjective quality of: quantization alone (Experiment 1); a reduction in spatial resolution either alone or combined to moderate levels of quantization (Experiment 2); and a reduction of temporal resolution either alone or combined with moderate levels of quantization (Experiment 3). The results suggest that at very low bit rates reductions in spatial or temporal resolution combined with moderate levels of quantization might be an effective means of reducing bit rate without further loss in video quality.