A picture is worth a thousand words.
Human beings can communicate more effectively using images and sound as compared to textual data.
Digital transmission and distribution of audio-visual information enables multimedia communication over the same network that supports data communication. This makes it possible for the consumer to interact with the audio-visual programming, in ways that were not possible with one way analog broadcast systems. Digitally encoded information is also much more resilient to degradation during transmission and storage, giving the consumer a better picture and sound quality. In addition it will also present reports on new developments and experimental results on all aspects of transmission and distribution of digital video. The special issue will look at the entire spectrum of bit-rate and quality requirements, looking at issues from technologies to services.