The present invention is a method and system for reducing delay in video
communication, including, for example, video transcoding and continuous
presence in a multipoint multimedia conference. The video communication
control unit reduces such delay by processing a video stream in a small
number of macroblocks referred to as "chunks," without waiting to get a
full frame of video data. Instead, the incoming video stream is converted
into decoded chunks. These decoded chunks are transferred to an output
module without waiting to decode an entire frame. An encoder in the
output module encodes the decoded chunks (also referred to as encoder
chunks), and transfers them to an end user without waiting for the entire
frame to be processed. Thus, reducing the delay in waiting for the entire
frame of video data provides improved real-time video communication.