Craig Birkmaier wrote: ----------------------------- http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel5/76/27384/01218192. pdf?temp=x Summary: This paper presents an overview of the transform and quantization designs in H.264. Unlike the popular 8/spl times/8 discrete cosine transform used in previous standards, the 4/spl times/4 transforms in H.264 can be computed exactly in integer arithmetic, thus avoiding inverse transform mismatch problems. The new transforms can also be computed without multiplications, just additions and shifts, in 16-bit arithmetic, thus minimizing computational complexity, especially for low-end processors. By using short tables, the new quantization formulas use multiplications but avoid divisions ------------------------------ > So h.264 provides a significant improvement in arithmetic accuracy > and the visibility of artifacts is reduced by acting upon smaller > 4 x 4 regions of the image. Actually, you will not see that "accuracy" is improved mentioned anywhere, but rather that computational complexity is reduced. An integer transorm is not inherently more "accurate" at all, even if the inverse doesn't introduce any additional error. And yes, the variable block sizes will make blocking artifacts less obvious. > So my educated guess is that products like the Algolith device > will not find their way into TV receivers. The shift to improved > compression techniques will make this unnecessary. I don't buy your reasoning, Craig, because a shift to improved compression techniques is not something a CE manufacturer can introduce into his product all by himself. It requires a standards change and a migration of the broadcast system. This box, very simply, can be used to extend the life of MPEG-2, both at the transmission end and at the receive end. Whether it is hugely successful or not is another matter. It took a whole lot of time to get that point across. Bert ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.