Motion video compression system with guaranteed bit production limits

摘要

A system and methods for implementing a video encoder which for each picture guarantees that the number of bits produced will not exceed a limit. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes two cooperating components or subsystems that together with other components of a video encoder operate to encode the input video, detect when the limit on the number of bits produced so far is close to exceeding the limit on the number of bits that may be produced and reduce the bit rate when such a condition is detected. One aspect of the current invention embodies a macroblock (MB) bit stream generator that can operate in a "low bit rate mode" Another aspect embodies a subsystem for detecting when the number of bits in the picture is close to exceeding the limit.