Practical Digital Video with Programming Examples in C

It is an interesting book for programmers who want to understand how digital video is processed, starting with simple and comprehensive introduction on different storage media types like magnetic disks, tapes and optical storage. Another interesting part is how video camera work and how computer displays work. These introductions would help in understanding the following sections that cover data compression and image and video processing standards like jpeg, mpeg, and h261. The source code is useful but it needs more explanation for non-highly skilled programmers in C. Overall it is one of the best books that I've read.

The question that needs to be answered about this book is, why would anyone still buy and use a book on computer video that is this old? The answer is that it does a few things better than any other book I know of, and a number of other things well enough that you don't need to look elsewhere. What are those things? First, its brief coverage of JPEG and MPEG-1 are the best single-chapter coverages from a programming point of view ("where are the bits?"-type stuff) of anything I have ever seen. It isn't enough to create a working JPEG or MPEG codec by itself, but this is the place to start if you need to get the idea. You will then need to turn to much more elaborate coverage [I use _JPEG: Still Image Data Compression Standard_ by William Pennebaker and Joan Mitchell (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993) for JPEG and _MPEG Video Compression Standard_ by Joan Mitchell, William Pennebaker, Chad Fogg, and Didier LeGall (Chapman & Hall, 1996) for MPEG]. However, this book is a great place to get the big picture from a programming point of view before slogging through the mountain of necessary gritty detail.Second, this book is the last thing I know of that is in print and addresses the Video for Windows API. This API continues to be the most widely supported API for computer video under Windows, but Microsoft expunged all documentation of it a few years ago -- long before Active Movie was ready to roll. And the current generation of Direct-X based video under Windows is still heavily based on Video for Windows -- it is very helpful to understand that API. The book only has a couple dozen pages on the topic, but it's the only game in town on VfW.Third, its coverage of color space conversions between RGB and CCIR 601, NTSC, SECAM, and PAL is clear and correct.Finally, its "your friend the video signal" chapters are as much as a programmer needs to know about such things, and geared to those of us who aren't gearheads.I have never found Mr. Mattison's code particularly useful. I find his quick discussion of image processing of no value. I have never encountered anyone who needed to know anything about the H.261 video compression standard. And I would not bother to read what he had to say about storage media back in 1994. But there is still enough meat on these bones to make this book one that I turn to with enough regularity that I would buy a replacement copy even now if I ever lost mine.

The text is a must for all needing fundamental concepts in video hardware and software. The electronics, the color systems, the signal processing algorithms, and the data structures for programming are very well laid in logical order. In addition the diskettes included in the kit contain valuable practical examples in C.