Robust source decoding of variable-length encoded video data taking into account source constraints

We first provide an analysis of available redundancy remaining in compressed video data. This residual redundancy has two origins: the variable-length code (VLC) syntax and the source constraints. We compute the two in terms of equivalent redundancy bits. Then, a VLC decoding algorithm able to exploit both VLC syntax and source constraints for improving the decoding performance is outlined. Finally, it is shown that by taking this redundancy into account, video decoding over additive white Gaussian noise channels is substantially improved.