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Image and video compression for multimedia engineering
fundamentals algorithms and standards 2nd ed Edition
Yun Q. Shi Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Yun Q. Shi, Huifang Sun
ISBN(s): 9780849373640, 0849373646
Edition: 2nd ed
File Details: PDF, 8.78 MB
Year: 2008
Language: english
ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
 IMAGE PROCESSING SERIES
Series Editor: Phillip A. Laplante, Pennsylvania State University

Published Titles
Adaptive Image Processing: A Computational Intelligence Perspective
Stuart William Perry, Hau-San Wong, and Ling Guan
Color Image Processing: Methods and Applications
Rastislav Lukac and Konstantinos N. Plataniotis
Image Acquisition and Processing with LabVIEW™
Christopher G. Relf

Image and Video Compression for Multimedia Engineering

Second Edition
Yun Q. Shi and Huiyang Sun

Multimedia Image and Video Processing

Ling Guan, S.Y. Kung, and Jan Larsen
Shape Analysis and Classification: Theory and Practice
Luciano da Fontoura Costa and Roberto Marcondes Cesar Jr.
Software Engineering for Image Processing Systems
Phillip A. Laplante

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 Yun Q. Shi
New Jersey Institute of Technolog y
Newark, New Jersey, USA

Huifang Sun
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Boca Raton London New York

CRC Press is an imprint of the

Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

CRC Press
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Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shi, Yun Q.
Image and video compression for multimedia engineering : fundamentals, algorithms, and
standards / Yun Q. Shi and Huifang Sun. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm. -- (Image processing series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8493-7364-0 (alk. paper)
1. Multimedia systems. 2. Image compression. 3. Video compression. I. Sun, Huifang. II. Title.

QA76.575.S555 2008
006.7--dc22 2007048389

Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at

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and the CRC Press Web site at
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ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 To beloved Kong Wai Shih, Wen Su,

Yi Xi Li, Shu Jun Zheng, and

Xian Hong Li

and

To beloved Xuedong,

Min, Yin, Andrew, Rich, Haixin, and

Allison

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Contents

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the First Edition
Content and Organization of the Book
Authors

Part I Fundamentals
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Practical Needs for Image and Video Compression
1.2 Feasibility of Image and Video Compression
1.2.1 Statistical Redundancy
1.2.1.1 Spatial Redundancy
1.2.1.2 Temporal Redundancy
1.2.1.3 Coding Redundancy
1.2.2 Psychovisual Redundancy
1.2.2.1 Luminance Masking
1.2.2.2 Texture Masking
1.2.2.3 Frequency Masking
1.2.2.4 Temporal Masking
1.2.2.5 Color Masking
1.2.2.6 Color Masking and Its Application in Video Compression
1.2.2.7 Summary: Differential Sensitivity
1.3 Visual Quality Measurement
1.3.1 Subjective Quality Measurement
1.3.2 Objective Quality Measurement
1.3.2.1 Signal to Noise Ratio
1.3.2.2 An Objective Quality Measure Based on Human
Visual Perception
1.4 Information Theory Results
1.4.1 Entropy
1.4.1.1 Information Measure
1.4.1.2 Average Information per Symbol
1.4.2 Shannon’s Noiseless Source Coding Theorem
1.4.3 Shannon’s Noisy Channel Coding Theorem
1.4.4 Shannon’s Source Coding Theorem
1.4.5 Information Transmission Theorem
1.5 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 2 Quantization
2.1 Quantization and the Source Encoder
2.2 Uniform Quantization
2.2.1 Basics

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 2.2.1.1 Definitions
2.2.1.2 Quantization Distortion
2.2.1.3 Quantizer Design
2.2.2 Optimum Uniform Quantizer
2.2.2.1 Uniform Quantizer with Uniformly Distributed Input
2.2.2.2 Conditions of Optimum Quantization
2.2.2.3 Optimum Uniform Quantizer with Different
Input Distributions
2.3 Nonuniform Quantization
2.3.1 Optimum (Nonuniform) Quantization
2.3.2 Companding Quantization
2.4 Adaptive Quantization
2.4.1 Forward Adaptive Quantization
2.4.2 Backward Adaptive Quantization
2.4.3 Adaptive Quantization with a One-Word Memory
2.4.4 Switched Quantization
2.5 Pulse Code Modulation
2.6 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 3 Differential Coding

3.1 Introduction to DPCM
3.1.1 Simple Pixel-to-Pixel DPCM
3.1.2 General DPCM Systems
3.2 Optimum Linear Prediction
3.2.1 Formulation
3.2.2 Orthogonality Condition and Minimum Mean Square Error
3.2.3 Solution to Yule–Walker Equations
3.3 Some Issues in the Implementation of DPCM
3.3.1 Optimum DPCM System
3.3.2 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D DPCM
3.3.3 Order of Predictor
3.3.4 Adaptive Prediction
3.3.5 Effect of Transmission Errors
3.4 Delta Modulation
3.5 Interframe Differential Coding
3.5.1 Conditional Replenishment
3.5.2 3-D DPCM
3.5.3 Motion Compensated Predictive Coding
3.6 Information-Preserving Differential Coding
3.7 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 4 Transform Coding

4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 Hotelling Transform
4.1.2 Statistical Interpretation
4.1.3 Geometrical Interpretation

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 4.1.4 Basis Vector Interpretation
4.1.5 Procedures of Transform Coding
4.2 Linear Transforms
4.2.1 2-D Image Transformation Kernel
4.2.1.1 Separability
4.2.1.2 Symmetry
4.2.1.3 Matrix Form
4.2.1.4 Orthogonality
4.2.2 Basis Image Interpretation
4.2.3 Subimage Size Selection
4.3 Transforms of Particular Interest
4.3.1 Discrete Fourier Transform
4.3.2 Discrete Walsh Transform
4.3.3 Discrete Hadamard Transform
4.3.4 Discrete Cosine Transform
4.3.4.1 Background
4.3.4.2 Transformation Kernel
4.3.4.3 Relationship with DFT
4.3.5 Performance Comparison
4.3.5.1 Energy Compaction
4.3.5.2 Mean Square Reconstruction Error
4.3.5.3 Computational Complexity
4.3.5.4 Summary
4.4 Bit Allocation
4.4.1 Zonal Coding
4.4.2 Threshold Coding
4.4.2.1 Thresholding and Shifting
4.4.2.2 Normalization and Roundoff
4.4.2.3 Zigzag Scan
4.4.2.4 Huffman Coding
4.4.2.5 Special Code Words
4.4.2.6 Rate Buffer Feedback and Equalization
4.5 Some Issues
4.5.1 Effect of Transmission Error
4.5.2 Reconstruction Error Sources
4.5.3 Comparison between DPCM and TC
4.5.4 Hybrid Coding
4.6 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 5 Variable-Length Coding: Information Theory Results (II)

5.1 Some Fundamental Results
5.1.1 Coding an Information Source
5.1.2 Some Desired Characteristics
5.1.2.1 Block Code
5.1.2.2 Uniquely Decodable Code
5.1.2.3 Instantaneous Codes
5.1.2.4 Compact Code
5.1.3 Discrete Memoryless Sources

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 5.1.4
Extensions of a Discrete Memoryless Source
5.1.4.1 Definition
5.1.4.2 Entropy
5.1.4.3 Noiseless Source Coding Theorem
5.2 Huffman Codes
5.2.1 Required Rules for Optimum Instantaneous Codes
5.2.2 Huffman Coding Algorithm
5.2.2.1 Procedures
5.2.2.2 Comments
5.2.2.3 Applications
5.3 Modified Huffman Codes
5.3.1 Motivation
5.3.2 Algorithm
5.3.3 Codebook Memory Requirement
5.3.4 Bounds on Average Code Word Length
5.4 Arithmetic Codes
5.4.1 Limitations of Huffman Coding
5.4.2 The Principle of Arithmetic Coding
5.4.2.1 Dividing Interval [0, 1) into Subintervals
5.4.2.2 Encoding
5.4.2.3 Decoding
5.4.2.4 Observations
5.4.3 Implementation Issues
5.4.3.1 Incremental Implementation
5.4.3.2 Finite Precision
5.4.3.3 Other Issues
5.4.4 History
5.4.5 Applications
5.5 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 6 Run-Length and Dictionary Coding: Information

Theory Results (III)
6.1 Markov Source Model
6.1.1 Discrete Markov Source
6.1.2 Extensions of a Discrete Markov Source
6.1.2.1 Definition
6.1.2.2 Entropy
6.1.3 Autoregressive Model
6.2 Run-Length Coding
6.2.1 1-D Run-Length Coding
6.2.2 2-D Run-Length Coding
6.2.2.1 Five Changing Pixels
6.2.2.2 Three Coding Modes
6.2.3 Effect of Transmission Error and Uncompressed Mode
6.2.3.1 Error Effect in the 1-D RLC Case
6.2.3.2 Error Effect in the 2-D RLC Case
6.2.3.3 Uncompressed Mode

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

6.3 Digital Facsimile Coding Standards
6.4 Dictionary Coding
6.4.1 Formulation of Dictionary Coding
6.4.2 Categorization of Dictionary-Based Coding Techniques
6.4.2.1 Static Dictionary Coding
6.4.2.2 Adaptive Dictionary Coding
6.4.3 Parsing Strategy
6.4.4 Sliding Window (LZ77) Algorithms
6.4.4.1 Introduction
6.4.4.2 Encoding and Decoding
6.4.4.3 Summary of the LZ77 Approach
6.4.5 LZ78 Algorithms
6.4.5.1 Introduction
6.4.5.2 Encoding and Decoding
6.4.5.3 LZW Algorithm
6.4.5.4 Summary
6.4.5.5 Applications
6.5 International Standards for Lossless Still Image Compression
6.5.1 Lossless Bilevel Still Image Compression
6.5.1.1 Algorithms
6.5.1.2 Performance Comparison
6.5.2 Lossless Multilevel Still Image Compression
6.5.2.1 Algorithms
6.5.2.2 Performance Comparison
6.6 Summary
Exercises
References

Part II Still Image Compression

Chapter 7 Still Image Coding: Standard JPEG

7.1 Introduction
7.2 Sequential DCT-Based Encoding Algorithm
7.3 Progressive DCT-Based Encoding Algorithm
7.4 Lossless Coding Mode
7.5 Hierarchical Coding Mode
7.6 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 8 Wavelet Transform for Image Coding: JPEG2000

8.1 A Review of Wavelet Transform
8.1.1 Definition and Comparison with Short-Time
Fourier Transform
8.1.2 Discrete Wavelet Transform
8.1.3 Lifting Scheme
8.1.3.1 Three Steps in Forward Wavelet Transform
8.1.3.2 Inverse Transform

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 8.1.3.3 Lifting Version of CDF (2,2)
8.1.3.4 A Demonstration Example
8.1.3.5 (5,3) Integer Wavelet Transform
8.1.3.6 A Demonstration Example of (5,3) IWT
8.1.3.7 Summary
8.2 Digital Wavelet Transform for Image Compression
8.2.1 Basic Concept of Image Wavelet Transform Coding
8.2.2 Embedded Image Wavelet Transform Coding Algorithms
8.2.2.1 Early Wavelet Image Coding Algorithms and
Their Drawbacks
8.2.2.2 Modern Wavelet Image Coding
8.2.2.3 Embedded Zerotree Wavelet Coding
8.2.2.4 Set Partitioning in Hierarchical Trees Coding
8.3 Wavelet Transform for JPEG2000
8.3.1 Introduction of JPEG2000
8.3.1.1 Requirements of JPEG2000
8.3.1.2 Parts of JPEG2000
8.3.2 Verification Model of JPEG2000
8.3.3 An Example of Performance Comparison between JPEG
and JPEG2000
8.4 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 9 Nonstandard Still Image Coding

9.1 Introduction
9.2 Vector Quantization
9.2.1 Basic Principle of Vector Quantization
9.2.1.1 Vector Formation
9.2.1.2 Training Set Generation
9.2.1.3 Codebook Generation
9.2.1.4 Quantization
9.2.2 Several Image Coding Schemes with Vector Quantization
9.2.2.1 Residual VQ
9.2.2.2 Classified VQ
9.2.2.3 Transform Domain VQ
9.2.2.4 Predictive VQ
9.2.2.5 Block Truncation Coding
9.2.3 Lattice VQ for Image Coding
9.3 Fractal Image Coding
9.3.1 Mathematical Foundation
9.3.2 IFS-Based Fractal Image Coding
9.3.3 Other Fractal Image Coding Methods
9.4 Model-Based Coding
9.4.1 Basic Concept
9.4.2 Image Modeling
9.5 Summary
Exercises
References

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Part III Motion Estimation and Compensation

Chapter 10 Motion Analysis and Motion Compensation

10.1 Image Sequences
10.2 Interframe Correlation
10.3 Frame Replenishment
10.4 Motion Compensated Coding
10.5 Motion Analysis
10.5.1 Biological Vision Perspective
10.5.2 Computer Vision Perspective
10.5.3 Signal Processing Perspective
10.6 Motion Compensation for Image Sequence Processing
10.6.1 Motion Compensated Interpolation
10.6.2 Motion Compensated Enhancement
10.6.3 Motion Compensated Restoration
10.6.4 Motion Compensated Down-Conversion
10.7 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 11 Block Matching

11.1 Nonoverlapped, Equally Spaced, Fixed Size, Small Rectangular
Block Matching
11.2 Matching Criteria
11.3 Searching Procedures
11.3.1 Full Search
11.3.2 2-D Logarithm Search
11.3.3 Coarse–Fine Three-Step Search
11.3.4 Conjugate Direction Search
11.3.5 Subsampling in the Correlation Window
11.3.6 Multiresolution Block Matching
11.3.7 Thresholding Multiresolution Block Matching
11.3.7.1 Algorithm
11.3.7.2 Threshold Determination
11.3.7.3 Thresholding
11.3.7.4 Experiments
11.4 Matching Accuracy
11.5 Limitations with Block Matching Techniques
11.6 New Improvements
11.6.1 Hierarchical Block Matching
11.6.2 Multigrid Block Matching
11.6.2.1 Thresholding Multigrid Block Matching
11.6.2.2 Optimal Multigrid Block Matching
11.6.3 Predictive Motion Field Segmentation
11.6.4 Overlapped Block Matching
11.7 Summary
Exercises
References

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Chapter 12 Pel Recursive Technique
12.1 Problem Formulation
12.2 Descent Methods
12.2.1 First-Order Necessary Conditions
12.2.2 Second-Order Sufficient Conditions
12.2.3 Underlying Strategy
12.2.4 Convergence Speed
12.2.4.1 Order of Convergence
12.2.4.2 Linear Convergence
12.2.5 Steepest Descent Method
12.2.5.1 Formulae
12.2.5.2 Convergence Speed
12.2.5.3 Selection of Step Size
12.2.6 Newton–Raphson’s Method
12.2.6.1 Formulae
12.2.6.2 Convergence Speed
12.2.6.3 Generalization and Improvements
12.2.7 Other Methods
12.3 Netravali–Robbins’ Pel Recursive Algorithm
12.3.1 Inclusion of a Neighborhood Area
12.3.2 Interpolation
12.3.3 Simplification
12.3.4 Performance
12.4 Other Pel Recursive Algorithms
12.4.1 Bergmann’s Algorithm (1982)
12.4.2 Bergmann’s Algorithm (1984)
12.4.3 Cafforio and Rocca’s Algorithm
12.4.4 Walker and Rao’s Algorithm
12.5 Performance Comparison
12.6 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 13 Optical Flow

13.1 Fundamentals
13.1.1 2-D Motion and Optical Flow
13.1.2 Aperture Problem
13.1.3 III-Posed Problem
13.1.4 Classification of Optical Flow Techniques
13.2 Gradient-Based Approach
13.2.1 Horn and Schunck’s Method
13.2.1.1 Brightness Invariance Equation
13.2.1.2 Smoothness Constraint
13.2.1.3 Minimization
13.2.1.4 Iterative Algorithm
13.2.2 Modified Horn and Schunck Method
13.2.3 Lucas and Kanade’s Method
13.2.4 Nagel’s Method
13.2.5 Uras, Girosi, Verri, and Torre’s Method

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

13.3 Correlation-Based Approach
13.3.1 Anandan’s Method
13.3.2 Singh’s Method
13.3.2.1 Conservation Information
13.3.2.2 Neighborhood Information
13.3.2.3 Minimization and Iterative Algorithm
13.3.3 Pan, Shi, and Shu’s Method
13.3.3.1 Proposed Framework
13.3.3.2 Implementation and Experiments
13.3.3.3 Discussion and Conclusion
13.4 Multiple Attributes for Conservation Information
13.4.1 Weng, Ahuja, and Huang’s Method
13.4.2 Xia and Shi’s Method
13.4.2.1 Multiple Image Attributes
13.4.2.2 Conservation Stage
13.4.2.3 Propagation Stage
13.4.2.4 Outline of Algorithm
13.4.2.5 Experimental Results
13.4.2.6 Discussion and Conclusion
13.5 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 14 Further Discussion and Summary on 2-D

Motion Estimation
14.1 General Characterization
14.1.1 Aperture Problem
14.1.2 Ill-Posed Inverse Problem
14.1.3 Conservation Information and Neighborhood Information
14.1.4 Occlusion and Disocclusion
14.1.5 Rigid and Nonrigid Motion
14.2 Different Classifications
14.2.1 Deterministic Methods versus Stochastic Methods
14.2.2 Spatial Domain Methods versus Frequency Domain Methods
14.2.2.1 Optical Flow Determination Using Gabor Energy Filters
14.2.3 Region-Based Approaches versus Gradient-Based Approaches
14.2.4 Forward versus Backward Motion Estimation
14.3 Performance Comparison between Three Major Approaches
14.3.1 Three Representatives
14.3.2 Algorithm Parameters
14.3.3 Experimental Results and Observations
14.4 New Trends
14.4.1 DCT-Based Motion Estimation
14.4.1.1 DCT and DST Pseudophases
14.4.1.2 Sinusoidal Orthogonal Principle
14.4.1.3 Performance Comparison
14.5 Summary
Exercises
References

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Part IV Video Compression

Chapter 15 Fundamentals of Digital Video Coding

15.1 Digital Video Representation
15.2 Information Theory Results: Rate Distortion Function
of Video Signal
15.3 Digital Video Formats
15.3.1 Digital Video Color Systems
15.3.2 Progressive and Interlaced Video Signals
15.3.3 Video Formats Used by Video Industry
15.3.3.1 ITU-R
15.3.3.2 Source Input Format
15.3.3.3 Common Intermediate Format
15.3.3.4 ATSC Digital Television Format
15.4 Current Status of Digital Video=Image Coding Standards
15.4.1 JPEG Standard
15.4.2 JPEG2000
15.4.3 MPEG-1
15.4.4 MPEG-2
15.4.5 MPEG-4
15.4.6 H.261
15.4.7 H.263, H.263 Version 2 (H.263þ), H.263þþ, and H.26L
15.4.8 MPEG-4 Part 10 Advanced Video Coding or H.264=AVC
15.4.9 VC-1
15.4.10 RealVideo
15.5 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 16 Digital Video Coding Standards: MPEG-1=2 Video

16.1 Introduction
16.2 Features of MPEG-1=2 Video Coding
16.2.1 MPEG-1 Features
16.2.1.1 Introduction
16.2.1.2 Layered Structure Based on Group of Pictures
16.2.1.3 Encoder Structure
16.2.1.4 Structure of the Compressed Bitstream
16.2.1.5 Decoding Process
16.2.2 MPEG-2 Enhancements
16.2.2.1 Field=Frame Prediction Mode
16.2.2.2 Field=Frame DCT Coding Syntax
16.2.2.3 Downloadable Quantization Matrix and Alternative
Scan Order
16.2.2.4 Pan and Scan
16.2.2.5 Concealment Motion Vector
16.2.2.6 Scalability
16.3 MPEG-2 Video Encoding
16.3.1 Introduction
16.3.2 Preprocessing

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 16.3.3
Motion Estimation and Motion Compensation
16.3.3.1 Matching Criterion
16.3.3.2 Searching Algorithm
16.3.3.3 Advanced Motion Estimation
16.4 Rate Control
16.4.1 Introduction of Rate Control
16.4.2 Rate Control of Test Model 5 for MPEG-2
16.5 Optimum Mode Decision
16.5.1 Problem Formation
16.5.2 Procedure for Obtaining the Optimal Mode
16.5.2.1 Optimal Solution
16.5.2.2 Near-Optimal Greedy Solution
16.5.3 Practical Solution with New Criteria for the Selection
of Coding Mode
16.6 Statistical Multiplexing Operations on Multiple Program Encoding
16.6.1 Background of Statistical Multiplexing Operation
16.6.2 VBR Encoders in StatMux
16.6.3 Research Topics of StatMux
16.7 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 17 Application Issues of MPEG-1=2 Video Coding

17.1 Introduction
17.2 ATSC DTV Standards
17.2.1 A Brief History
17.2.2 Technical Overview of ATSC Systems
17.2.2.1 Picture Layer
17.2.2.2 Compression Layer
17.2.2.3 Transport Layer
17.2.2.4 Transmission Layer
17.3 Transcoding with Bitstream Scaling
17.3.1 Background
17.3.2 Basic Principles of Bitstream Scaling
17.3.3 Architectures of Bitstream Scaling
17.3.3.1 Architecture 1: Cutting AC Coefficients
17.3.3.2 Architecture 2: Increasing Quantization Step
17.3.3.3 Architecture 3: Re-Encoding with Old Motion Vectors
and Old Decisions
17.3.3.4 Architecture 4: Re-Encoding with Old Motion Vectors
and New Decisions
17.3.3.5 Comparison of Bistream Scaling Methods
17.3.4 MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 Transcoding
17.4 Down-Conversion Decoder
17.4.1 Background
17.4.2 Frequency Synthesis Down-Conversion
17.4.3 Low-Resolution Motion Compensation
17.4.4 Three-Layer Scalable Decoder
17.4.5 Summary of Down-Conversion Decoder

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

17.5 Error Concealment
17.5.1 Background
17.5.2 Error Concealment Algorithms
17.5.2.1 Code Word Domain Error Concealment
17.5.2.2 Spatio-Temporal Error Concealment
17.5.3 Algorithm Enhancements
17.5.3.1 Directional Interpolation
17.5.3.2 I-Picture Motion Vectors
17.5.3.3 Spatial Scalable Error Concealment
17.5.4 Summary of Error Concealment
17.6 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 18 MPEG-4 Video Standard: Content-Based

Video Coding
18.1 Introduction
18.2 MPEG-4 Requirements and Functionalities
18.2.1 Content-Based Interactivity
18.2.1.1 Content-Based Manipulation and Bitstream Editing
18.2.1.2 Synthetic and Natural Hybrid Coding
18.2.1.3 Improved Temporal Random Access
18.2.2 Content-Based Efficient Compression
18.2.2.1 Improved Coding Efficiency
18.2.2.2 Coding of Multiple Concurrent Data Streams
18.2.3 Universal Access
18.2.3.1 Robustness in Error-Prone Environments
18.2.3.2 Content-Based Scalability
18.2.4 Summary of MPEG-4 Features
18.3 Technical Description of MPEG-4 Video
18.3.1 Overview of MPEG-4 Video
18.3.2 Motion Estimation and Compensation
18.3.2.1 Adaptive Selection of 16 3 16 Block or Four 8 3 8 Blocks
18.3.2.2 Overlapped Motion Compensation
18.3.3 Texture Coding
18.3.3.1 INTRA DC and AC Prediction
18.3.3.2 Motion Estimation=Compensation of Arbitrary
Shaped VOP
18.3.3.3 Texture Coding of Arbitrary Shaped VOP
18.3.4 Shape Coding
18.3.4.1 Binary Shape Coding with CAE Algorithm
18.3.4.2 Gray-Scale Shape Coding
18.3.5 Sprite Coding
18.3.6 Interlaced Video Coding
18.3.7 Wavelet-Based Texture Coding
18.3.7.1 Decomposition of the Texture Information
18.3.7.2 Quantization of Wavelet Coefficients
18.3.7.3 Coding of Wavelet Coefficients of Low–Low Band
and Other Bands
18.3.7.4 Adaptive Arithmetic Coder

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

 18.3.8 Generalized Spatial and Temporal Scalability
18.3.9 Error Resilience
18.4 MPEG-4 Visual Bitstream Syntax and Semantics
18.5 MPEG-4 Visual Profiles and Levels
18.6 MPEG-4 Video Verification Model
18.6.1 VOP-Based Encoding and Decoding Process
18.6.2 Video Encoder
18.6.2.1 Video Segmentation
18.6.2.2 Intra=Inter Mode Decision
18.6.2.3 Off-Line Sprite Generation
18.6.2.4 Multiple VO Rate Control
18.6.3 Video Decoder
18.7 Summary
Exercises
References

Chapter 19 ITU-T Video Coding Standards H.261 and H.263

19.1 Introduction
19.2 H.261 Video Coding Standard
19.2.1 Overview of H.261 Video Coding Standard
19.2.2 Technical Detail of H.261
19.2.3 Syntax Description
19.2.3.1 Picture Layer
19.2.3.2 Group of Blocks Layer
19.2.3.3 Macroblock Layer
19.2.3.4 Block Layer
19.3 H.263 Video Coding Standard
19.3.1 Overview of H.263 Video Coding
19.3.2 Technical Features of H.263
19.3.2.1 Half-Pixel Accuracy
19.3.2.2 Unrestricted Motion Vector Mode
19.3.2.3 Advanced Prediction Mode
19.3.2.4 Syntax-Based Arithmetic Coding
19.3.2.5 PB-Frames
19.4 H.263 Video Coding Standard Version 2
19.4.1 Overview of H.263 Version 2
19.4.2 New Features of H.263 Version 2
19.4.2.1 Scalability
19.4.2.2 Improved PB-Frames
19.4.2.3 Advanced Intracoding
19.4.2.4 Deblocking Filter
19.4.2.5 Slice-Structured Mode
19.4.2.6 Reference Picture Selection
19.4.2.7 Independent Segmentation Decoding
19.4.2.8 Reference Picture Resampling
19.4.2.9 Reduced-Resolution Update
19.4.2.10 Alternative Inter VLC and Modified Quantization
19.4.2.11 Supplemental Enhancement Information
19.5 H.263þþ Video Coding and H.26L

ß 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Other documents randomly have
different content
is described here because it is illustrative of the fact that brain and
brawn, not “pull” and money, have made the vikings and iron barons
of the Inland Seas. No millionaires’ sons here, living on their fathers’
prestige—no blue-blooded drones in these regions of the five little
seas, where only red blood counts!
When the first ships of the season come up from the South in
April or May nearly a million and a half tons of ore are awaiting them
in the docks of the ore-shipping ports. There are twenty-six of these
ore docks, one of which, at Duluth, has a storage capacity of ninety-
six thousand tons. From a distance these docks look like great
trestles, from fifty to one hundred feet above the water, some of
them running for nearly half a mile out into the lake. Out upon these
docks run the cars from the mines. From these cars the ore is
dropped into huge pockets, from which run downward long chutes,
or spouts. A ten-thousand-ton carrier runs alongside. Her hatches
are opened. Into each hatch runs a chute. The chute “doors” are
opened, and with a dull, rumbling, rushing sound the ore pours
down by force of gravity from the huge pockets above. At dock No.
4, Duluth, 9277 tons were put aboard the steamer E. J. Earling in
seventy minutes, being at the rate of 7988 tons an hour. The rapidity
with which Lake transportation is carried on is shown in the fact that
upon this occasion the Earling was in port only two hours and fifteen
minutes before she began her thousand-mile return trip eastward.
And now comes the last important phase. One viewing the
continuous activity at the mines, the building up of cities on the
ranges, and the tremendous interests represented in the great
shipping ports may forget that this is but one end of the gigantic
industry which makes the United States the steel-maker for the
world. At the other end of the fresh-water highways is seen the
other half of the picture. Down into Erie come the ships from the
North. A few of them go to Chicago, but only a few. Out of a total
movement of thirty-seven million tons, in 1906, thirty-two million
tons were received at Lake Erie ports. There are eleven of these
“receiving ports”—Toledo, Sandusky, Huron, Lorain, Cleveland,
Fairport, Ashtabula, Conneaut, Erie, Buffalo, and Tonawanda.
 One of the Huge Open Pits of the Mesaba Range.

Between these cities there is a constant battle for prestige. Now

one leads in tonnage received, now another. At the present time the
bitterest rivalry exists between Cleveland, Ashtabula, and Conneaut,
the three greatest ore ports in the world. In 1901, Ashtabula led. In
1902, Cleveland bore away the “pennant,” with Ashtabula and
Conneaut second and third. Cleveland was still ahead in 1903, but in
1904, Conneaut became the greatest ore-receiving port in the world.
In 1905, Ashtabula had again won the ascendency, and in 1906, she
maintained her prestige, receiving in that year 6,833,352 tons;
Cleveland was second, and Conneaut third. Lorain, Fairport,
Ashtabula, Conneaut, and Erie practically exist because of the ore
which comes down from the northern mines. Seven million dollars
are now being expended in the improvement of Ashtabula harbour
by the Lake Shore and Pennsylvania railroad companies, and the
capacity of the harbour has been doubled since 1905. With the
improvement of that harbour Conneaut’s greatest advantage will be
gone, for until a comparatively recent date nearly all of the largest
vessels went to that port. The tremendous activity in Ashtabula must
be seen to be fully appreciated. In one day lately almost four
thousand ore and coal cars were moved between that port and
Youngstown.
At this end of the great ore industry the wonderful mechanism
for the handling of cargoes is even more astonishing than that of the
Northland. The ore carrier is run under a huge unloading machine
which thrusts steel arms down into the score or more hatches of the
vessel, and without the assistance of human hands the cargo is
emptied so quickly that the uninitiated observer stands mute with
astonishment. How quickly this work is done is shown in the record
of the George W. Perkins, which discharged 10,346 tons at Conneaut
in four hours and ten minutes.
Once more, after this unloading, the steel monster of the Lakes
is all but ready for her long journey into the North. Within a few
hours she is reloaded, with a few sonorous blasts of her whistle she
bids a last adieu, and again she is off on the long trail that leads to
the “ugly wealth” in the ore ranges of Superior.
 III
What the Ships Carry—Other Cargoes

N
ot long ago I went to see William Livingstone, President of the
Lake Carriers’ Association—Great Admiral, in a way, of the
world’s mightiest fleet of steel—an enrolled navy of 593
ships and a tonnage of nearly one million nine hundred thousand.
Unconsciously I had come to call this man the Grey Man and the
Man who Knows. Both titles fit, as they will tell you from the twin
Tonawandas to Duluth. For six consecutive years president of the
greatest organisation of its kind on earth, an association of ships
made up, if weighed, of half of the iron and steel floating on the
Inland Seas, he has become a part of Lake history. I sought him for
an idea. I found it.

The Grey Man was at his desk studying over the expenditure of
a matter of several millions of dollars for a new canal at the “Soo.”
He turned slowly—grey suit, grey tie, grey eyes, grey beard, grey
hair—all beautifully blended. He seldom speaks first. He is always
fighting to be courteous, yet the days are ten hours too short for
him.
“I want a new idea,” I opened bluntly. “I want something new in
marine—something that will make people sit up and take notice, as
it were. Can you help me?”
He swung slowly about in his chair until his eyes rested upon a
picture on the wall. It was a picture of the old days on the Lakes. My
eyes, too, rested on the old picture. It reminded me of things, and I
kept pace with the thoughts that might be his. I saw him, more than
half a century before, the stripling son of a ship’s carpenter,
swimming in the shadows of the big fore-’n’-afters that were
monarchs before steam came—glorious days when ninety-eight per
cent. of vessels carried sail, and sailors dispensed law with their fists
and bore dirks in their bootlegs. Later I saw the proud moment of
his first trip to “sea”—and then, quickly, I noted his rise: his saving
dollar by dollar until he bought an interest in a tug, his
monopolisation of it later, his climb—up—up—until——
“I’m busy, very busy!” he broke in quietly. “But say, did you ever
think of this? Did you ever build a city of the lumber we carry each
year, populate that city, feed it with the grain we carry, and warm it
with our coal? You can do it on paper and you will be surprised at
what you find. It will show you more graphically than anything else
just what the ships carry. Try it. You’ll be interested.”
I have kept that idea warm. Now I am going to use it. For
probably in no better way can the immensity of the lumber, grain,
coal, flour, and package freight traffic of the Great Lakes be given.
Imagine, then, this “City of the Five Great Lakes.” We will build it, we
will people it, feed it, and heat it—and our only material, with the
exception of its inhabitants, will be the cargoes of the Lake carriers
for a single season. And these carriers? If you should stand at the
Lime Kiln Crossing, in the Detroit River, one would pass you on an
average every twelve minutes, day and night, during the eight
months of navigation; and when you saw their number and size you
would wonder where they could possibly get all of their cargoes. The
cargoes with which we will deal in this article will be of lumber,
grain, flour and coal, for these, with iron ore, constitute over ninety
per cent. of the commerce of the Inland Seas.
 A Raft of Five Million Pulp Logs on the North Shore of Lake
Michigan.

To build our city we first require lumber. During the 1909 season
of navigation about 1,500,000,000 feet of this material will be
carried by Lake ships. What this means it is hard to conceive until it
is turned into houses. To build a comfortable eight-room dwelling,
modern in every respect, requires about 20,000 feet of lumber, and
when we divide a billion and a half by this figure we have 75,000
homes, capable of accommodating a population of about 400,000
people. With the thousands of tons of building stone transported by
lake each year, the millions of barrels of cement, the cargoes of
shingles, sand, and brick, our “City of the Lakes” for 1909 would be
as large as Buffalo, Cleveland, or Detroit.
But one does not begin fully to comprehend the significance of
the enormous commerce of the Great Lakes, and what it means not
only to this country but to half of the civilised world, until he begins
to figure how long the grain which will be carried by ships during the
present year would support this imaginary city of 400,000 adult
people. There will pass through the “Soo” canals this year at least
90,000,000 bushels of wheat and 60,000,000 bushels of other grain,
besides 7,500,000 barrels of flour, all of which represents the “bread
stuff” that is shipped from Lake Superior ports alone. There will, in
addition, be shipped by lake at least 50,000,000 bushels from
Chicago, Milwaukee, and other ports whose eastbound commerce is
not reported at the “Soo.” In short, estimating conservatively from
the past four years, it is safe to say that at least 200,000,000
bushels of grain and 11,000,000 barrels of flour will have been
transported by the Great Lakes marine by the end of this year’s
season of navigation.
But what do these figures mean? They seem top-heavy,
unwieldly, valuable perhaps to the scientific economist, but of small
interest to the ordinary everyday eater of bread. Let us reduce this
grain to flour. It takes from four and a half to five bushels of grain
for a barrel of flour and dividing by the larger figure our grain would
give us 40,000,000 barrels, which, plus the 11,000,000, would make
a total of 51,000,000 barrels. Now we come right down to dinner-
table facts. At least 250 one-pound loaves of bread can be made
from each 196-pound barrel of flour, or a total of 12,750,000,000
from the whole, which would mean at least five loaves for every
man, woman, and child of the two and one half billion people who
inhabit this globe! In other words, figuring from the reports of food
specialists, the grain and flour carried by the ships of the Lakes for
one year would give the total population of the earth a food supply
sufficient to keep it in life and health for a period of two weeks!
This enormous supply of the staff of life would give each of the
400,000 bread-eating people in our “City of the Lakes” a half-pound
a day for one hundred and seventy-five years, or it would supply a
city of the size of Chicago with bread for fifty years! To each of the
60,000,000 bread-eaters in the United States it would give 212 one-
pound loaves, or, with an allowance of half a pound for each person
per day, it would feed the nation for one year and two months!
 Now, having built our city, peopled it, and supplied it with food,
we come to the point of heating it. In 1907, there were transported
by Lake nearly 15,000,000 tons of coal, and this year another million
will probably be added to that figure. Here again mere figures fail to
tell the story. But when we come to divide this coal among the
homes of a city like Cleveland, Detroit, or Buffalo, which rank with
our 75,000-home “City of the Lakes,” we again come to an easy
understanding. Each of these 75,000 home-owners would receive as
his share over 213 tons of coal, and if he burned six tons each
winter this would last him for thirty-five years!
In a nutshell, there is enough lumber and other material carried
by Lake ships each year to build a city the size of Detroit; there is
enough grain transported to supply its 400,000 inhabitants with
bread-stuffs for a period of one hundred and seventy-five years,
conceding the total population of the city to be adults; and enough
coal is shipped from Erie ports into the North to heat the homes in
this city for thirty-five years!
When one knows these facts, when perhaps for the first time in
his life he is brought to a realisation of the enormous proportions of
the commerce of the Inland Seas, he may, and with excellent
excuse, believe that he has reached the limit of its interest. But as a
matter of fact he has only begun to enter upon its wonders, and the
farther he goes the more he sees that economic questions which
have long been mysteries to him are being unravelled by the Great
Lakes of the vast country in which he lives.
“Because of the ships of our Inland Seas,” James A. Calbick, late
President of the Lumber Carriers’ Association, said to me, “the
people of the United States, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky
Mountains, and as far south as Kentucky and Tennessee, have been
able to build the cheapest homes in the world—and the best,” and
this assertion, which can be proved in several different ways, brings
us at once to the lumber traffic as it exists on the Lakes to-day.
Going through almost any one of the Eastern and Central States
one will find thousands of old sheds and barns, travelling the road to
ruin through age alone, though built of the best of pine and oak—
materials of a quality which cannot be found in the best of modern
homes in this year of 1909. For ten years past the price of lumber
has been steadily climbing, and since 1900 the increase in the cost
of building construction has brought lumber to a par with brick.
While the commerce of the Lakes is increasing by tremendous
bounds in other ways, people are now, perhaps unknowingly,
witnessing the rapid extinction of one of their oldest and most
romantic branches of traffic—the lumber industry; and each year, as
this industry comes nearer and nearer to its end, the price of lumber
climbs higher and higher, home-owners become fewer in comparison
with other years, and fleets and lumber companies go out of
existence or direct their energies into other channels.

Scooping up Ore from the Mahoning Mine at Hibbing.

The largest open pit mine in the world.
 To Lake people it is pathetic, this death of the lumber fleets of
the Inland Seas. An old soldier who had sailed on a lumber hooker
since the days of the Civil War once said to me, “They’re the Grand
Army of the Lakes—are those old barges and schooners, and they’re
passing away as fast as we old fellows of the days of ’61.” To-day no
vessels are built along the Lakes for the carrying of lumber. Scores of
ancient “hookers” and picturesque schooners of the romantic days of
old are rotting at their moorings, and when a great steel leviathan of
ten thousand tons passes one of these veterans the eyes of her crew
will follow it until only her canvas remains above the horizon.
Yet from the enormous quantity of lumber which will be
transported by Lake during the present year, one would not guess
that the great fleet which will carry it is fast nearing the end of its
usefulness in this way. In every lumbering camp along the Lakes, in
the great forests of Minnesota, and in the wilderness regions of
Canada, unprecedented effort has been expended in securing
“material” because of the high prices offered, and the result has
been something beyond description. Recently I passed through the
once great lumbering regions of the Lakes to see for myself what I
had been told. Michigan is stripped; the “forest” regions of Georgian
Bay are scrub and underbrush; for hundreds of square miles around
Duluth the axe and the saw have been ceaselessly at work, though
there is still a great deal of timber land in the northern part of the
State. In the vast lumber regions of a decade ago, once lively and
prosperous towns have become almost depopulated. Scores of
lumbering camps are going to rot and ruin; saw-mills are abandoned
to the elements, and in places where lumbering is still going on,
timber is greedily accepted which a few years ago would have been
passed by as practically worthless. A few years more and the picture
of ruin will be complete. Then the lumber traffic on the Great Lakes
will virtually have ceased to be, the old ships will be gone, and past
forever will be the picturesque life of the lumberjack and those
weather-beaten old patriarchs who, since the days of their youth,
have been “goin’ up f’r cedar ’n’ pine.”
 A Mining Town on the Mesaba Range, where a Few Years
ago the Deer and Bear Roamed Undisturbed.

But even in these last days of the lumber industry on the Lakes
the figures are big enough to create astonishment and wonder, and
give some idea of what that industry has been in years past. Take
the Tonawandas, for instance—those two beautiful little cities at the
foot of Lake Erie, a few miles from Buffalo. Lumber has made these
towns, as it has made scores of others along the Lakes. They are the
greatest “lumber towns” in the world, and estimating from the
business of former years there will be carried to them by ship in
1909 between 300,000,000 and 400,000,000 feet of lumber. In
1890, there entered the Tonawandas 718,000,000 feet, which shows
how the lumber traffic has fallen during the last nineteen years. It is
figured that about 10,000,000 feet of lumber, valued at $200,000, is
lost each year from aboard vessels bound for the “Twin Cities.” In
1905, the vessels running to the Tonawandas numbered 300; this
year their number will not exceed 250—another proof of the rapidly
failing lumber supply along America’s great inland waterways.
“This talk of a lumber famine is all bosh,” I was informed with
great candour a short time ago. “Look at the great forests of
Washington and Oregon! Think of the almost limitless supply of
timber in some of the Southern States! Why, the stripping of the
Lake States ought not to make any difference at all!”
There are probably several million people in this country of ours
who are, just at the present moment, of the above opinion. They
have never looked into what I might call the “economy of the Lakes.”
A few words will show what part the Lakes have played in the
building of millions of American homes. At this writing it cost $2.50
to bring a thousand feet of lumber from Duluth to Detroit aboard a
ship. It costs $5.50 to bring that same lumber by rail! Conceding
that this year’s billion and a half feet of lumber will be transported a
distance of seven hundred miles, the cost of Lake transportation for
the whole will be about $3,750,000. The cost of transportation by
rail of this same lumber would be at least $7,500,000, or as much
again! Now what if you, my dear sir, who live in New York, had to
have the lumber for your house carried fourteen hundred miles
instead of seven, or three thousand miles, from Washington State?
To-day your lumber can be brought a thousand miles by water for $3
per thousand feet; by rail it would cost you $7! And this, with
competition playing a tremendous part in the game. When lumber is
gone from the Lake regions, will our philanthropic railroads carry this
material as cheaply as now, when for eight months of the year they
face the bitter rivalry of our Great Lakes marine?
“When the time comes that there is no more lumber along the
Lakes, what will be the result?” I asked Mr. Calbick, the late
President of the Lumber Carriers’ Association. He replied:
“Lumber will advance in price as never before. No longer will the
frame cottage be the sign of the poor man’s home; no longer will the
brick mansion be the manifestation of wealth. It will then cost much
more to build a dwelling of wood than of brick or stone. The frame
house will in time become the sign of aristocracy and means. It will
pass beyond the poor man’s pocket-book, and while this poor man
may live in a house of brick it will not be his fortune to live in a
house of wood. That is what will happen when the lumber industry
ceases along the Great Lakes.”

Harbour View at Conneaut, Ohio, Showing Docks and

Machinery.

Then this great lumberman went on to say:

“People are beginning to see, and each year they will see more
plainly, how absolutely idiotic our State and National governments
have been in not compelling forest preservation. For all the centuries
to come Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota should be made to
supply the nation with timber. In these three Lake States there are
millions of acres of ideal forest land which is good for nothing else.
Yet for at least half a century must these millions of acres now
remain worthless. Nothing has been left upon them. They are
“barrens” in the true sense of the word, and before forests are
regrown upon them fifty or a hundred years hence, the greatest
timber famine the world has ever seen will have been upon us for
generations.”
Hardly could the significance of the passing of the lumber
industry along our Inland Seas be appreciated without taking a brief
glance into the past, to see what it has already done for the nation.
There is now practically no white pine left in the State of Michigan—
once the home of the greatest pine regions in the whole world.
Michigan’s tribute to the nation has been enormous. For twenty
years she was the leading lumber-producing State of the Union. As
nearly as can be estimated, her forests have yielded
160,000,000,000 feet of pine, more than one hundred times the
total amount of lumber that will be transported on the Lakes this
year. These are figures which pass comprehension until they are
translated into more familiar terms. This enormous production would
build a board walk five feet wide, two inches thick, and three million
miles long—a walk that would reach one hundred and twenty times
around the earth at the equator; or it would make a plank way one
mile wide and two inches thick that would stretch across the
continent from New York to San Francisco! In other words,
Michigan’s total contribution of pine would build ten million six-room
dwellings capable of housing over half the present population of the
United States.
As a consequence of this absolute spoliation of the forest lands,
a large part of Michigan is now practically worthless. First, the lands
were bought by lumbering companies; the timber was stripped—
then came the tax-collector! But why pay taxes on worthless
barrens, with only stumps and brush and desert sand to claim? So
people forgot they owned them, and as a result one seventh of the
State of Michigan is to-day on the delinquent tax list.
 Minnesota is going the way of Michigan. In 1906, there was cut
in the Duluth district a total of 828,000,000 feet of white pine; but
each year this production will become smaller, until in the not distant
future there will be nothing for the lumber ships of the Lakes to
carry. What this will mean to the home-builders of the nation can be
shown in a few words. Previous to 1860, the Chicago man could buy
1000 feet of the best white pine for $14. To-day it costs him $80!
What will it cost ten years hence?

A Steam Shovel at Work.

This removes from 4000 to 8000 tons of ore a day.

Already the centre of lumber production has swung from the

North to the South. The yellow pine of Louisiana is now taking the
place once filled by white pine, and at the rate it is being cut another
decade will see that State stripped as clean as Michigan now is, and
then the country’s last resort will be to turn to the Pacific coast with
its forests of Douglas fir. And still, as though blindfolded to all sense
and reason, almost every State government continues to look upon
the fatal destruction without a thought for the future, though before
us are facts which show that Americans are using nearly eight times
as much lumber per capita as is used in Europe, and that the nation
is consuming four times as much wood annually as is produced by
growth in our forests.
Ten years more and the last of the romantic old lumber ships of
the Inland Seas will have passed away; gone forever will be the
picturesque life of those who have clung thus long to the fate of
canvas and the four winds of heaven; and with it, too, will pass the
remaining few of those old lumber kings who have taken from
Michigan forests alone fifty per cent. more wealth than has been
produced by all the gold mines of California since their discovery in
1849.
But in the place of this passing industry is rapidly growing
another, the effect of which is already being felt over half of the
civilised world, and which in a very few years from now will be
counted the greatest and most important commerce in existence.
The iron mines of the North may become exhausted, the little
remaining forest of the Lake regions will fade away; but the grain
trade will go on forever. Just as the Superior mines have produced
cheap iron and steel, just as the Inland Seas have been the means
of giving the nation cheap lumber, so will they for all time to come
supply unnumbered millions with cheap bread. Like great links, they
connect the vast grain-producing West with the millions of the
bread-consuming East. And not only do they control the grain traffic
of the United States. To-day western Canada is spoken of as the
future “Bread Basket of the World,” and over the Lakes will travel the
bulk of its grain. Looking ahead for a dozen centuries, one cannot
see where there can be a monopoly of grain transportation, either
by railroad or ship. The water highways are every man’s property; a
few thousand dollars—a ship—and you are your own master, to go
where you please, carry what you please, and at any price you
please. For all time, in the carrying of grain from field to mouth, the
Great Lakes will prove themselves the poor man’s friend. To bring
this poor man’s bushel of wheat over the one thousand miles from
Duluth to Buffalo by Lake now costs only two cents.
And according to the predictions of some of the oldest ship-
owners of the Lakes, the tremendous saving to the poor man
because of the cheapness of Lake freightage is bound to increase in
the not distant future. It must be remembered that at the present
time ships are not built too fast for Lake demand, and as a
consequence transportation rates, while exceedingly low when
compared with rail rates, are such as to make fortunes each year for
the owners of ships. Take the cargo of the B. F. Jones, for instance,
delivered at Buffalo in October of 1906. She had on board 370,273
bushels of wheat which she had brought from Duluth at two and
three fourths cents a bushel, making her four-day trip down pay to
the tune of $7500! The preceding year one cargo of 300,000 bushels
was brought down for six cents a bushel, a very extraordinary
exception to the regular cheap rate—one of the exceptions which
come during the last week or two of navigation. The freight paid on
this cargo was $18,000. In other words, if this vessel had made but
this one trip during the season the profit on the total investment of
$300,000 represented by the ship would have been six per cent.
There are on the Lakes vessels which pay from twenty to thirty per
cent. a year, and an “ordinary earner” is supposed to run from ten to
twenty.
In viewing these enormous profits, however, the layman has no
cause for complaint, for the vessels that make them do so not to his
cost, but from the rapidity with which they achieve their work. The
W. B. Kerr is a vessel that can carry 400,000 bushels of wheat.
Figure that she makes twenty trips a season. If she carried grain
continually she would transport a total of 8,000,000 bushels in a
single season, which would supply Chicago with bread for nearly a
year and a half. And it is an interesting fact, too, that with few
exceptions the ships of the Lakes are not owned by corporations, but
by the American people. Their stock is held, not by thousands, but
by hundreds of thousands. Recognised as among the best and safest
investments in the United States, they are the property of farmers,
mechanics, clerks, and other small investors, as well as of capitalists.
Recently one of the largest shipbuilders on the Lakes said to me, “A
third of the farmers in the Lake counties of Ohio have money
invested in shipping.” Which shows that not only in the way of cheap
transportation are the common people of the country profiting
because of the existence of our Inland Seas. It may be interesting to
note at this point that the tonnage shipped and received at Ohio
ports in 1907 exceeded that of all the ports of France.
The rate at which the grain traffic of the Lakes is increasing is
easily seen in the figures of the last few years. In 1905, over
68,000,000 bushels of wheat passed through the “Soo” canals. In
1906, this increased to more than 84,000,000, showing a growth in
one year of 16,000,000 bushels, or 23 per cent. This rate of increase
is not only being maintained, but it is becoming larger; and the grain
men of the Lakes are unanimous in the opinion that even from the
big increase of recent years cannot be figured the future grain
business of the Inland Seas.
“Ten years more will see the American and Canadian Wests
feeding the world,” a grain dealer tells me. “Within that time I look
to see the wheat production of North America not only doubled, but
trebled.”
 The Old and the New.
A modern freight carrier passing one of the old schooners.

What western Canada is destined to mean to Lake commerce is

already shown in marine figures. From Port Arthur and Fort William,
the “twin cities” of Thunder Bay, were shipped in 1907 over
60,000,000 bushels of grain, and it is safe to predict that the
shipment of these two little cities will this year exceed 70,000,000
bushels. The largest elevator in the world, with a capacity of
7,500,000 bushels, has been constructed at Port Arthur; and Fort
William already has a capacity of 13,000,000 bushels.
And as yet the fertile regions of western Canada have hardly
been touched! These 70,000,000 bushels of 1909 will represent part
of the production, not of a nation, but of a comparatively few
pioneers in what is destined to become the greatest grain-growing
country in the world—a country connected with the East and the
waterways to Europe by the Five Great Lakes. When the task now
under way of widening and deepening the Erie Canal is
accomplished, the enormous Lake traffic in grain may continue
without interruption to the Atlantic coast. Even as it is, the
transportation of grain from Buffalo to New York by canal is showing
a phenomenal increase. The value of the freight cleared by canal
from Buffalo in 1907 was nearly $19,000,000, while in 1905 it was
less than $12,000,000.
Like the building of ships the building of elevators is now one of
the chief occupations along the Lakes. The “grain age,” as vessel-
men are already beginning to call it, has begun. In the four chief
grain ports of the Lakes, Chicago, Duluth-Superior, Buffalo, and Port
Arthur-Fort William, there are now 145 elevators with a capacity of
138,000,000 bushels. Chicago leads, with 83 elevators and a
capacity of 63,000,000, although Duluth-Superior with their 27
elevators and 35,000,000-bushel capacity shipped half again as
much grain to Buffalo in 1907 as did Chicago. Buffalo is the great
“receiving port” of the lower Lakes. There vast quantities of grain
are made into flour, and the rest is transhipped eastward. At present
the city possesses 28 elevators with a capacity of 23,000,000
bushels.
There is another potent reason why the passing of the lumber
traffic and the future exhaustion of the iron mines do not trouble
ship builders and owners. It has been asserted that when lumber
and iron are gone there will no longer be business for all of the ships
of the Lakes. How wrong this idea is has been shown by the growth
of the grain trade. But grain will be only one item in the enormous
commerce of the future. Each year the coal transportation business
is growing, and the constantly increasing saving to coal consumers
because of this commerce is astonishing. At one end of the Lakes
are the vast coal deposits of the East; at the other is Duluth, the
natural distributing point for a multitude of inland coal markets. Of
the 16,000,000 tons of coal to be shipped by water this year
probably 8,000,000 will go to Duluth, and will be carried a distance
of one thousand miles for thirty-five cents a ton, just about what one
would pay to have it shovelled from a waggon into his basement
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