System for progressive transmission of compressed video including video data of first type of video frame played independently of video data of second type of video frame

Different data sets are parsed from a video clip for sequential transmission from one computer system to another computer system over a communications link. The receiving node is able to play back a version of the video clip after receiving each successive data set, with the received data sets being interleaved together for playback. In one embodiment, the video clip is divided into key frames and delta frames and each frame is encoded as a plurality of bands, where each band is part of an independent band sequence. For example, for subsampled YUV data, the Y component plane of each frame may be globally composed into four bands Y0-Y3. Each of the six bands (Y0, Y1, Y2, Y3, U, and V) is then encoded independent of the other bands as part of a separate band sequence. That is, the Y0 band sequence is based on the Y0 band from each frame in the video clip. The encoded video data for the different bands and different frames can then be grouped into different data sets for sequential transmission. For example, the first data set may consist of only the Y0, U, and V data for only the key frames. After this first data set has been received, an initial version of the video clip (albeit of reduced quality) can be played. In addition or alternatively, one or more other versions of the video clip can be played back by interleaving subsequently received data sets with the first data set. The present invention reduces the delay before the user is able to see at least some version of the video clip.