An innovative low complexity MPEG-2 video transcoder operating in the DCT domain

A novel method to transcode the MPEG-2 bitstream in order to reduce its flow is presented together with its architecture. It is a method of great flexibility and very low complexity. It needs a low amount of memory and can be easily integrated in the global architecture. Rate reduction can be gradually achieved from any value allowed by the selected MPEG-2 profile to any lower rate. Compared to a decoder-encoder pipeline, the quality of the transcoded bitstream is equal or even better, being very close to the quality achieved by encoding the source signal at the target bitrate. Furthermore, the hardware complexity is fairly lower, requiring less than 10 mm/sup 2/ in 0.25 /spl mu/m technology.