H.263

H.263 is a video compression standard developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in collaboration with Intel, Microsoft, and IBM. It was designed to be used for video conferencing, Internet Protocol (IP) based video streaming, and other applications where low-bitrate video compression is required, such as Cisco Systems and Polycom. The standard was influenced by the work of Leonardo Chiariglione and his team at CSELT, who also contributed to the development of the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards, in conjunction with Sony and Philips. The development of H.263 was also supported by AT&T, British Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom.

Introduction

H.263 is a hybrid video codec that uses a combination of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Motion Compensation to achieve high compression ratios, similar to those achieved by MPEG-4 and H.264. The standard supports a range of features, including Error Resilience and Scalability, which make it suitable for use in a variety of applications, such as Video on Demand (VOD) and IPTV, as used by Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. H.263 is also compatible with a range of platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, and has been implemented by companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook. The standard has undergone several revisions, with the most recent version being H.263v2, which was released in 1998 and was influenced by the work of Nokia and Ericsson.

History

The development of H.263 began in the early 1990s, with the first version of the standard being released in 1996, following the release of H.261 and preceding the release of H.264. The standard was developed by the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG), which is a joint committee of the ITU-T and ISO, and included contributions from Siemens, Thomson, and Toshiba. The development of H.263 was influenced by the work of Karlheinz Brandenburg and his team at Fraunhofer IIS, who also contributed to the development of the MP3 audio codec, in collaboration with Bosch and Daimler. The standard has undergone several revisions, with the most recent version being H.263v2, which was released in 1998 and was supported by SAP and Oracle.

Technical Details

H.263 uses a combination of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Motion Compensation to achieve high compression ratios, similar to those achieved by AVS and VC-1. The standard supports a range of features, including Error Resilience and Scalability, which make it suitable for use in a variety of applications, such as Video Conferencing and Online Gaming, as used by Skype and Twitch. H.263 also supports a range of profiles, including the Baseline Profile and the High-Compression Profile, which provide different levels of compression and quality, and have been implemented by companies such as AMD and NVIDIA. The standard is also compatible with a range of platforms, including ARM and x86, and has been used by Samsung and LG.

Applications

H.263 has been used in a variety of applications, including Video Conferencing, Internet Protocol (IP) based video streaming, and Video on Demand (VOD), as used by YouTube and Vimeo. The standard has also been used in Online Gaming and Virtual Reality (VR) applications, such as those developed by Valve Corporation and Oculus VR. H.263 has also been used in Digital Television (DTV) and High-Definition Television (HDTV) applications, such as those used by BBC and CNN, and has been supported by Euronews and Al Jazeera. The standard has also been used in Surveillance and Security applications, such as those used by CCTV and IP cameras, as implemented by Honeywell and Bosch Security Systems.

Comparison to Other Standards

H.263 is similar to other video compression standards, such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and H.264, which were developed by MPEG and VCEG. However, H.263 has several advantages, including lower computational complexity and lower bitrate requirements, making it suitable for use in low-bandwidth applications, such as those used by 3GPP and LTE. H.263 is also compatible with a range of platforms, including Windows Media Player and QuickTime, and has been implemented by companies such as Adobe and RealNetworks. The standard has also been compared to AVS and VC-1, which are also used for video compression, and has been influenced by the work of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Microsoft Research.

Legacy and Impact

H.263 has had a significant impact on the development of video compression technology, and has been widely used in a variety of applications, including Video Conferencing and Online Gaming, as used by Google Meet and Discord. The standard has also influenced the development of other video compression standards, such as H.264 and H.265, which were developed by VCEG and MPEG. H.263 has also been recognized as a key technology in the development of Internet Protocol (IP) based video streaming, and has been used by companies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The standard has also been supported by IEEE and IETF, and has been used in ITU-T and ISO standards, such as H.323 and MPEG-4. Category:Video codecs