A video encoder/decoder utilizes a bistream syntax that provides an
independently decodable, partial picture unit, which may be in the form
of a unit containing one or more contiguous rows of macroblocks (called a
slice). This slice layer provides a flexible combination of
error-resilience and compression efficiency. The slice layer encodes an
efficient addressing mechanism (e.g., a syntax element specifying a
beginning macroblock row of the slice layer), as well as an efficient
mechanism to optionally retransmit picture header information. The slice
layer provides decoding and reconstruction independence by disabling all
forms of prediction, overlap and loop-filtering across slice-boundaries.
This permits a slice coded in intra-mode to be reconstructed error-free,
irrespective of errors in other regions of the picture.