Treating video information

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a data processing device, video information that characterizes a sequence of frames;

performing, at the data processing device, motion estimation and compensation on the video information to generate a collection of prediction error metrics associated with one or more frames from the sequence of frames;

generating, at the data processing device, a first threshold based on prediction error metrics associated with a first set of frames, the first set of frames being prior to a current frame;

comparing, at the data processing device, a prediction error metric for the current frame with the first threshold;

based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, at the data processing device, a second threshold based on prediction error metrics associated with a second set of frames, the second set of frames being prior to the current frame, wherein a number of frames in the first set of frames is greater than a number of frames in the second set of frames;

comparing, at the data processing device, the prediction error metric for the current frame with the second threshold; and

wherein based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change comprises based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold and the second threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

coding the frames; and

when coding the frames, changing a bit rate for coding the frames based on a lack of support for a motion model by determination of whether a video encoding module is configured to support a motion model.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting one or more coding parameters based on the classification; and

coding the frames in the scene in accordance with the adjusted coding parameters.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein changing the motion estimation and compensation parameters comprises:

excluding certain frames from use as reference frames; and

changing a weight of a preliminary prediction frame in a final prediction frame.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein changing the motion estimation and compensation parameters comprises changing a weight of a preliminary prediction frame in a final prediction frame.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein changing the motion estimation and compensation parameters comprises allocating additional computational resources to predictive motion estimation.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein adjusting the one or more coding parameters comprises:

specifying that certain frames be coded as intra-coded frames; and

increasing a bit allocation for coding the frames in the scene.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein adjusting the one or more coding parameters comprises increasing a bit allocation for coding the scene.

10. A system comprising:

one or more processors and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are configured, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a data processing device, video information that characterizes a sequence of frames;

performing, at the data processing device, motion estimation and compensation on the video information to generate a collection of prediction error metrics associated with one or more frames from the sequence of frames motion estimation and compensation parameters;

generating, at the data processing device, a first threshold based on prediction error metrics associated with a first set of frames, the first set of frames being prior to a current frame;

comparing, at the data processing device, a prediction error metric for the current frame with the first threshold;

based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

generating, at the data processing device, a second threshold based on prediction error metrics associated with a second set of frames, the second set of frames being prior to the current frame, wherein a number of frames in the first set of frames is greater than a number of frames in the second set of frames;

comparing, at the data processing device, the prediction error metric for the current frame with the second threshold; and

wherein based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change comprises based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold and the second threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

generate generating coded video information based at least in part on the classifications of the one or more scenes; and

changing a bit rate for coding the frames based on a lack of support for a motion model by determination of whether a video encoding module is configured to support a motion model.

13. A non-transitory computer program product, tangibly encoded on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions to cause data processing apparatus to perform video coding operations, the operations comprising:

receiving, at a data processing device, video information that characterizes a sequence of frames;

performing, at the data processing device, motion estimation and compensation on the video information to generate a collection of prediction error metrics associated with one or more frames from the sequence of frames;

generating, at the data processing device, a first threshold based on prediction error metrics associated with a first set of frames, the first set of frames being prior to a current frame;

comparing, at the data processing device, a prediction error metric for the current frame with the first threshold;

based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising:

coding the frames; and

when coding the frames, instructions for changing a bit rate for coding the frames based on a lack of support for a motion model by determination of whether a video encoding module is configured to support a motion model.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising instructions for:

adjusting one or more coding parameters based on the classification; and

coding the frames in the scene in accordance with the adjusted coding parameters.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising:

generating, at the data processing device, a second threshold based on prediction error metrics associated with a second set of frames, the second set of frames being prior to the current frame, wherein a number of frames in the first set of frames is greater than a number of frames in the second set of frames;

comparing, at the data processing device, the prediction error metric for the current frame with the second threshold; and

wherein based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change comprises based on the prediction error metric for the current frame satisfying the first threshold and the second threshold, classifying, at the data processing device, the current frame as a scene change.

17. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein changing the motion estimation and compensation parameters comprises:

instructions for excluding certain frames from use as reference frames; and

changing a weight of a preliminary prediction frame in a final prediction frame.

18. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein changing the motion estimation and compensation parameters comprises instructions for changing a weight of a preliminary prediction frame in a final prediction frame.

19. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein changing the motion estimation and compensation parameters comprises instructions for allocating additional computational resources to predictive motion estimation.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the adjusting one or more coding parameters comprises:

specifying that certain frames be coded as intra-coded frames; and

increasing a bit allocation for coding the frames in the scene.

21. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein adjusting the one or more coding parameters comprises increasing a bit allocation for coding the scene.