Specific features of digital formats

A 4:2:2 signal quantized to 10 binary characters in its entirety (including line and frame blanking signals) gives rise to a raw data rate of 270 Mbits /s. This is high enough to present difficulties in recording and delivering such signals to the intended audience.

Recourse to digital bitrate reduction is therefore an absolute necessity, which has led specialized working groups - JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) - to develop standardized methods between 1989 and 1994 that lead to lower bitrates, often to the detriment of the quality of the signal recovered after the reverse operation (decompression) at the other end of the chain.

The algorithm used to highlight...