Apparatus and method for adaptively compressing successive blocks of digital video

Apparatus for optimizing the compression of successive blocks of digital data comprising:

• means for compressing data blocks in a first data path to provide a first compressed signal;
• means for compressing said data blocks in a second data path to provide a second compressed signal;
• means for evaluating errors in the first and second compressed signals;
• means responsive to said evaluating means for selecting the compressed signal having the least error for each data block;
• and
• means for combining the selected signals to provide a compressed digital data stream.

Decoder apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving compressed digital video signals transmitted in blocks of frame processed pixel data and field processed pixel data;
• means coupled to said receiving means for determining whether a particular block of data contained in a received signal was frame processed or field processed;
• first means for decoding received blocks of field processed pixel data;
• second means for decoding received blocks of frame processed pixel data;
• and
• means responsive to said determining means for selectively combining decoded blocks from said first and second means to recover an uncompressed video signal.

A digital television system comprising:

• first data compression means for compressing field formatted blocks of pixel data derived from a digitized interlaced video signal;
• second data compression means for compressing frame formatted blocks of pixel data corresponding to said field formatted blocks;
• means for evaluating errors in compressed data from said first and second data compression means;
• means responsive to said error evaluating means for selecting the compressed data for each block having the least error;
• means for encoding the selected data for each block to identify it as field processed or frame processed data;
• and
• means for combining the encoded selected data to provide a compressed video data stream containing interspersed blocks of field processed pixel data and frame processed pixel data for transmission by a transmitter.

A method for encoding television signals for digital transmission comprising the steps of:

• dividing a digitized interlaced video signal into blocks of pixel data;
• formatting said blocks in a field format;
• compressing said field formatted blocks to provide a first compressed video signal;
• formatting said blocks in a frame format;
• compressing said frame formatted blocks to provide a second compressed video signal;
• evaluating errors in said first and second compressed video signals;
• selecting, for each block, the compressed video signal having the least error;
• encoding the selected signals to identify them as field formatted or frame formatted signals;
• and
• combining the encoded signals.