System and method for compressing video data for video conferencing at a reduced frame rate

A method for compressing video data from a video source located at a first node and for first transmission to a second node in order to enable second transmission from additional video sources to the second node, the second transmission being separate from the first transmission, the method comprising:

• at the first node, sequentially storing a first number of fields N at a selected rate and dropping a second number of fields P to achieve a compression ratio of (P+N):N in order to enable transmission from the additional video sources to the second node, wherein the storing step includes storing the data in an analog charge coupled device and transferring data for transmission of the first number of fields by shifting stored charges within the analog charge coupled device for transmission of the first number of fields to the second node without transmitting the second number of fields to the second node.

A method for compressing video data transmitted by a first transmission from a video source in order to enable second transmission from additional video sources, the second transmission being separate from the first transmission, the method comprising:

• sequentially storing a first number of fields N at a selected rate and dropping a second number of fields P to achieve a compression ratio of (P+N):N in order to enable transmission from the additional video sources;
• and
• transferring the stored fields of storage at a reduced rate, wherein the reduced rate is equal to the selected rate multiplied by N/(P+N), in order to decrease an original frequency bandwidth used for transmission by a factor of substantially (P+N)/N.