A software image coding system

Most video coding systems, from MPEG decoders to video telephone systems, are based on dedicated hardware. The cost of developing and manufacturing hardware coding systems is high. The quality of the coded video is often higher than is essential for person to person communication. It is possible to produce much simpler coding algorithms which can be implemented in software, with no dedicated hardware accelerators, to be run on medium powered desktop computers. A software video coding system has been developed which is capable of coding 144 by 120 pixel video at 10 frames per second when running on a 486 based PC. The resulting coded data is compressed enough to be transmitted to the decoder over a single 64 kbit/s ISDN channel.