VIDEO SIGNAL CODER

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To encode a video signal more effectively through the use of a contour signal of an object by selecting a contour line block or an object block, masking the contour line block, replacing all picture element values with a specific value and forming a mask block. SOLUTION: A quantization section 514 quantizes the sets of conversion coefficients by using any of known quantization technologies. Then sets of the quantization conversion coefficients are given to an entropy coding section 516. The entropy coding section 516 employs a technology being combination of, e.g. the variable length coding technology and the run length coding technology to encode the sets of quantization conversion coefficients and gives a coded texture signal of a video signal to a data formatting circuit 600. The data formatting circuit 600 applies formatting to a coded contour line signal from the contour line coding section 301 and a coded texture signal from the entropy coding section 516 and gives the result to a transmitter.