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Table Of Contents
GOP Structure
This setting specifies whether there will be two, one, or no B-frames between the reference
frames within a GOP. GOP structure, along with GOP size, determines the number of I-,
P-, and B-frames that will be used during transcoding.
The GOP structure you choose depends on how far apart P-frames should be spaced.
Since a P-frame is predicted from the previous reference frame (either an I-frame or a
P-frame), if there are one or two B-frames in between, the prediction must cover the
distance objects can move over the duration of two to three frames.
In principle, the less average motion there is from one frame to the next, the farther apart
P-frames can be spaced, and the greater the compression can be. For most video material,
the IBBP structure is a good choice. Material with unusually fast motion throughout the
entire sequence may benefit from an IBP or IP structure, but in such cases a relatively
high bit rate (6 to 8 Mbps for SD video) may be required for good quality.
GOP Size
This setting specifies the number of frames within a GOP. Because exactly one I-frame
exists per GOP, longer GOP sizes generally provide greater compression, because B- and
P-frames are smaller than I-frames.
For most media, spacing I-frames about 1/2 second apart gives good results. This equates
to a GOP size of 15 frames for NTSC and 12 frames for PAL. The DVD-Video specification
prohibits GOP lengths from being much longer than this. Generally, only material with
scene changes occurring less than 1/2 second apart frequently throughout the video will
benefit from shorter GOP sizes.
Open and Closed GOPs
Open GOPs are most efficient because they allow an extra B-frame in the GOP pattern.
Open GOPs start with a B-frame that is able to look at the last P-frame from the preceding
GOP as well as the first I-frame of its own GOP.
:06 :07 :08 :09
:09
:10 :11 :12 :13 :14 :15 :16 :17 :18 :19 :20 :21:04 :05
Open GOP
(IBBP, 15 frames)
I B B P B B P B B P B B P B B IB BP
:03
:06 :07 :08 :10 :11 :12 :13 :14 :15 :16 :17 :18:04 :05
Closed GOP
(IBBP, 15 frames)
P B B P B P B P B PI B BBB
210 Chapter 18 Creating MPEG-2 Output Files