TABLE OF CONTENTS In this chapter, we covered the basics of video and audio compression. We looked at the benefits and drawbacks of compression. We spent some time discussing MPEG, because it is the most widely used technology for compression today. We covered a few other types of compression that are used in videoconferencing and other applications. We talked about the ways in which compression technology and devices can be compared. We also took a brief tour of some applications and concluded with a look at the technology licensing issues.
| q | Decide if compression will be used on video and/or audio content. If compression isn't going to be used, will all the networks that will be used have adequate bandwidth to handle the digital video content? |
| q | Examine the devices that will be responsible for transmitting and receiving the video/audio content. Will they have adequate performance to encode and/or decode the video in addition to other required tasks? |
| q | If desktop PCs will be used, will hardware encoders or decoders need to be added, or will software encoders and decoders be adequate? |
| q | If stand-alone hardware devices are to be used (such as set top boxes), how will the users select programming and control other functions? |
| q | Will the system connect to other video networks and devices? If so, what standards will be used to permit interoperability? |
| q | When selecting a codec technology, make sure that both content sources... |
