**1. Introduction**

34 Video Compression

Sullivan G. & Bjøntegaard G. (2001). Recommended Simulation Common Conditions for

Material. ITU-T VCEG, Doc. VCEG-N81.

H.26L Coding Efficiency Experiments on Low-Resolution Progressive-Scan Source

Video imagery provides a rich source of information for a range of applications including military missions, security, and law enforcement. Because video imagery captures events over time, it can be used to monitor or detect activities through observation by a user or through automated processing. Inherent in these applications is the assumption that the image quality of the video data will be sufficient to perform the required tasks. However, the large volume of data produced by video sensors often requires data reduction through video compression, frame rate decimation, or cropping the field-of-view as methods for reducing data storage and transmission requirements. This paper presents methods for analyzing and quantifying the information loss arising from various video compression techniques. The paper examines three specific issues:

