A system and a method for encoding, transmitting, decoding and storing a
high-resolution video sequence using a low-resolution base layer and a
higher-resolution enhancement layer. The base layer contains
low-resolution video information and is compressed in a manner such that
it can be decoded independently of the enhancement layer. The base layer
may be encoded in an existing standard video format (such as MPEG-2). The
enhancement layer, which contains high-resolution information, provides a
variable amount of enhancement to the base layer. The compressed video
sequence is transmitted in two layers and uses a minimum amount of bit
rate by using information transmitted in the base layer in the decoding of
both the base layer and the enhancement layer. In an enhanced decoder,
both the base layer and the enhancement layer use this information that
has been transmitted in the base layer.