Susanna Spinsante, Ennio Gambi, Lorenzo Ciccarelli, Andrea Lorenzo Vitali, Jorge Sastre Martínez, Paul Salama

“ The growing diffusion of new services, like mobile television and video communications, based on a variety of transmission platforms (3G, WiMax, DVB-S/T/H, DMB, DTMB, Internet, etc.) , emphasizes the need of advanced video coding techniques able to meet the requirements of both the receiving devices and the transmission networks. In this context, scalable and layered coding techniques represent a promising solution when aimed at enlarging the set of potential devices capable of receiving video content. ”

“ Video encoders' configuration must be tailored to the target devices and services, that range from high definition, for powerful high-performance home receivers, to video coding for mobile handheld devices. ”

“ After two rounds of careful reviews from about fifty experts in related fields, five papers were selected to be included in this special issue covering major topics, from coding related issues to error resilience and protection and to statistical multiplexing, thus providing a comprehensive overview on the area. ”