Apparatus and method for processing groups of fields in a video data compression system

A method for automatically encoding sequential fields of video information comprising the steps of:

• encoding a first one of said sequential fields using only the video information in the first field to produce an I-field;
• predictively encoding a second one of said sequential fields, separated from said first field by a plurality of field intervals, using the video information in the first and second fields to produce a P-field;
• predictively encoding a third one of said sequential fields, occupying a position in the sequence between said first field and said second field, using the video information in the third field and in one of the first and second fields to produce a first B-field;
• and
• predictively encoding a fourth one of said sequential fields, occupying a position in the sequence between said second field and said third field, .›.using.!. by considering the video information in the first, second, third, and fourth .›.field and in one of the first, second and third.!. fields in order to select video information from at least one of the first, second, third and fourth fields to produce a second B-field.

A video data compression system which encodes sequential fields of video information comprising:

• means for encoding a first one of said sequential fields using only the video information in the first field to produce an I-field;
• means for predictively encoding a second one of said sequential fields, separated from said first field by a plurality of field intervals, using the video information in the first and second fields to produce a P-field;
• means for predictively encoding a third one of said sequential fields, occupying a position in the sequence between said first field and said second field, using the video information in the third field and in one of the first and second fields to produce a first B-field;
• and
• means for predictively encoding a forth one of said sequential fields, occupying a position in the sequence between said second field and said third field, .›.using.!. by considering the video information in the first, second, third and fourth .›. field and in one of the first, second and third.!. fields in order to select video information from at least one of the first, second, third and fourth fields to produce a second B-field.

Apparatus for automatically encoding a sequence of video image fields comprising:

• means for encoding each field in said sequence of video image fields in a predetermined order to produce a sequence of encoded fields, wherein a plurality of the fields in the sequence are bidirectionally predictively encoded;
• means for decoding each field in the sequence of encoded fields to produce a sequence of decoded fields;
• and
• means for storing each field in said sequence of decoded fields to provide a sequence of stored fields;
• wherein, each field in said sequence of video image fields which is bidirectionally predictively encoded uses data from one of said stored fields which is closest in position in said sequence of video image fields to the field being bidirectionally predictively encoded.

A method of automatically encoding a sequence of video image fields each of said fields being associated with another one of said fields to form a frame, the two fields associated with one another to form the frame having opposite polarities designated as odd and even, the method comprising the steps of:

• encoding each field in said sequence of video image fields in a predetermined order to produce a sequence of encoded fields, wherein some of the fields in said sequence of video image fields are predictively encoded;
• decoding selected fields in the sequence of encoded fields to produce a sequence of decoded fields;
• and
• storing, in a multi-frame buffer, each field in said sequence of decoded fields such that fields from a plurality of different frames are stored;
• wherein, one of the fields in said sequence of image fields which is predictively encoded, is encoded by considering data from at least two fields from different frames including the one of said stored fields which is in the same frame but opposite in polarity to the field being encoded, the other of the at least two fields being in a different frame but having the same polarity as the field being encoded to the field being encoded.

Apparatus for automatically encoding sequential video image fields each of said fields being associated with another one of said field to form a frame, the apparatus comprising:

• means for encoding each field in said sequence of video image fields in a predetermined order to produce a sequence of encoded fields, wherein some of the fields in said sequence of video image fields are predictively encoded;
• means for decoding selected fields in the sequence of encoded fields to produce a sequence of decoded fields;
• and
• means for storing, in a multi-frame buffer, each field in said sequence of decoded fields such that fields from a plurality of different frames are stored;
• wherein, one of the fields in said sequence of image fields which is predictively encoded, is encoded by considering data from at least two fields from different frames including the one of said stored fields which is in the same frame as the field being encoded.

A method of automatically encoding sequential fields of video information comprising the steps of:

• encoding one of said sequential fields using only the video information in the first field to produce an I-field;
• and
• predictively encoding a plurality of said sequential fields to produce a plurality of P-fields each of said plurality of P-fields being associated with another one of said plurality of P-fields to form a P-frame;
• wherein, one P-field of said plurality of P-fields is encoded by considering video information in the I-field and one of said plurality of P-fields which is associated with said one P-field in a P-frame.

Apparatus for automatically encoding sequential fields of video information wherein each video field is associated with another one of the video fields to form a video frame, the apparatus comprising:

• means for encoding one of said sequential fields using only the video information in the first field to produce an I-field;
• and
• means for predictively encoding a plurality of said sequential fields to produce a plurality of P-fields each of said plurality of P-fields being associated with another one of said plurality of P-fields to form a P-frame;
• wherein, one of said plurality of P-fields is encoded by considering video information in the I-field and one of said plurality of P-fields which is associated with said one P-field in a P-frame.