Method and apparatus for video data compression

Claim 1

A picture encoding apparatus comprising: picture data storage means for storing a plurality of input picture data; scene change detection means for evaluating the quantity of the information of the input picture data from the plural picture data stored in said picture data storage means for detecting a scene change; selection means for selecting a GOP of a preset unit length made up of a picture formed by compression by intra-frame coding and a picture formed by compression by inter-frame predictive coding based upon a scene change detection output supplied from said scene change detection means, wherein said selection means includes unit length control means for adaptively changing the number of pictures for intra-frame coding and the number of pictures for inter-frame predictive coding in said GOP and for setting the GOP length in response to the scene change detection output only when the ratio of the number of the pictures for inter-frame predictive coding to the number of pictures for intra-frame predictive coding exceeds a pre-set ratio, and wherein said selection means changes a given inter-frame predictively coded picture to another inter-frame predictively coded picture in the GOP based upon an output of said unit length control means; and compression encoding means for compression encoding said input picture data in a pre-set manner in accordance with the GOP selected by said selection means.