Analysis of channel error upon selectively encrypted H.264 video

Abstract

For real-time video streaming applications it is important to preserve both privacy and delay sensitivity. To achieve this, selective encryption exploits the entropy coding stage of hybrid codecs. As streaming applications move towards mobile networks, they become vulnerable to bit-errors in the wireless channel. This paper is a pioneering analysis of the relative impact of bit-errors on the two H.264 codec entropy coders, CAVLC and CABAC. The joint impact of compression and encryption on objective video quality is determined in experiments, when it is found that CAVLC is much more vulnerable to bit-errors compared to CABAC. This finding will guide future bit-error protection schemes for both entropy coders of H.264 video codec.