text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}

Video technology is ubiquitous in modern life, with wired and wireless video streaming, terrestrial and satellite TV, Blu-ray players, digital cameras, video conferencing and surveillance all underpinned by efficient signal representations. It has been predicted that, by 2022, 82\% (approximately 4.0ZB) of all global internet traffic per year will be video content \cite{r:cisco2}. It is therefore a very challenging time for compression, which must efficiently code these increased quantities of video at higher spatial and temporal resolutions, dynamic resolutions and qualities.

The last three decades have witnessed significant advances in video compression technology, from the first international video coding standard H.120 \cite{r:h120}, to the widely adopted MPEG-2/H.262 \cite{r:h262} and H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) \cite{r:h264} standards. More recently, ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) have initiated the development of a new video coding standard, Versatile Video Coding (VVC) \cite{s:VVC1}, with the aim of reducing bit rates by 30\%-50\% compared to the current High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard \cite{r:HEVC}. In parallel, the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) has developed royalty-free open-source video codecs to compete with MPEG standards. The recently launched AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) codec \cite{w:AV1} has been reported to outperform its predecessor VP9 \cite{w:VP9}.

In order to benchmark these coding algorithms, their rate quality performance can be evaluated using objective and/or subjective assessment methods. Existing work \cite{c:Akyazi,c:Grois,c:SeixasDias,c:Guo,c:Zabrovskiy,c:Katsavounidis} has reported comparisons for contemporary codecs, but the results have been varied and the conclusions confusing due to the use of different coding configurations.

In this context, this paper presents a comparison between the test models for three major video coding standards (HEVC, AV1 and VVC) using their corresponding common test conditions to create a fair comparison. The results are based on eighteen representative source sequences at UHD (3840$\times$2160) and HD (1920$\times$1080) resolutions using traditional (constant resolution) and Dynamic Optimizer (DO)\footnote{Here only convex hull rate-distortion optimisation within each shot is employed.} (DO) \cite{w:DO} (for HD resolution only) approaches.

We provide a comprehensive extension of our previous work in \cite{c:Zhang24}, where only AV1 and HEVC comparison results were presented based on the DO approach. Comparing to existing work on codec comparison \cite{c:Zabrovskiy,c:Guo,c:Grois,c:Akyazi}, this paper is the first to present objective and subjective comparison results for the VVC Test Model and to compare codecs within an adaptive streaming framework.

In this paper, three specific research questions are addressed:
\begin{enumerate}
	\item What is the overall compression efficiency of the tested video codecs in terms of subjective and objective video quality?
	\item How does the compression efficiency vary across various bit rates and resolutions?
	\item How does the performance of commonly used objective quality metrics correlate with collected subjective scores?
	\item What are the computational complexity figures for the tested codecs?
\end{enumerate}

The rest of this paper is organised as follows. Section \ref{sec:background} briefly reviews the history of video coding and related work on codec comparison. Section \ref{sec:database} presents the selected source sequences and the coding configurations employed in generating various compressed content. In Section \ref{sec:exp}, the conducted subjective experiments are described in detail, while the comparison results through both objective and subjective assessment are reported and discussed in Section \ref{sec:results}. Finally, Section \ref{sec:conclusions} outlines the conclusion and future work.

\section{Background}
\label{sec:background}

This section provides a brief overview of video coding standards and summarises previous work on video codec comparisons.

\subsection{Video coding standards}

Video coding standards normally define the syntax of bitstream and the decoding process, while encoders generate standard-compliant bitstream and thus determine compression performance. Each generation of video coding standard comes with a reference test model, such as HM (HEVC Test Model) for HEVC, which can be used to provide a performance benchmark.

H.264/MPEG-4-AVC \cite{r:h264} was launched in 2004, and is still the most prolific video coding standard, despite the fact that the current standard, H.265/HEVC \cite{r:HEVC} finalised in 2013, provides enhanced coding performance. Since 2018, work on the next generation video coding standard, Versatile Video Coding (VVC), has targeted 30\%-50\% coding gain over H.265/HEVC, supporting immersive formats (360\textdegree~videos) and higher spatial resolutions, up to 16K.

\subsection{Other video coding technologies}

Alongside recent MPEG standardisation, there has been increasing activity in the development of  open-source royalty-free video codecs, particularly by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), a consortium of video-related companies. VP9 \cite{w:VP9} was developed by Google to compete with MPEG and provided a basis for AV1  (AOMedia Video 1) \cite{w:AV1} which was released in 2018  AV1 is expected to be a primary competitor for the current MPEG video coding standards, especially in the context of streaming applications.

For further details on existing video coding standards and formats, the readers are referred to \cite{b:Bull,b:Wien,b:Ohm}.

\subsection{Codec comparison}

The performance of video coding algorithms is usually assessed by comparing their rate-distortion (RD) or rate-quality (RQ) performance on various test sequences. The selection of test content is important and  should provide a diverse and representative coverage of the video parameter space. Objective quality metrics or subjective opinion measurements are normally employed to assess compressed video quality, and the overall RD or RQ performance difference between codecs can be then calculated using  Bj{\o}ntegaard measurements (for objective quality metrics) \cite{r:Bjontegaard} or SCENIC \cite{j:Hanhart} (for subjective assessments). Recently, in order to compare video codecs and optimise rate quality performance, the DO approach, particularly its convex hull rate-distortion optimisation, has been developed by Netflix \cite{w:DO} for adaptive streaming applications. This constructs a convex hull over rate quality curves at various spatial resolutions, and provides a fairer approach for comparing different codecs across a wider bit rate range and resolutions.

Most recent work has focused on comparisons between MPEG codecs (H.264/AVC and HEVC) and royalty-free (VP9 and AV1) codecs \cite{c:Akyazi,c:Grois,j:MMSPSVD,c:SeixasDias} and on their application in adaptive steaming services \cite{c:Guo,c:Zabrovskiy,c:Katsavounidis}. However the results presented are acknowledged to be highly inconsistent,  mainly due to the different configurations employed. Moreover, as far as we are aware, there have been no  subjective codec comparisons in the context of adaptive streaming or including the performance VVC.

\section{Test Content and Codec Configurations}
\label{sec:database}

\begin{table*}[ht]
 \caption{The software versions and configurations of the evaluated video codecs.}
\centering
		\begin{tabular}{c | c | p{12.7cm}}
		\toprule
	Codec	& Version & Configuration parameters \\
		\midrule
				\midrule
HEVC HM & 16.18 & Random access configuration for Main10 profile \cite{r:JCTVCAF1100}. IntraPeriod=64 and GOPSize=16.\\
		\midrule
AOM AV1 & 0.1.0-9647-ga6fa0877f & Common settings with high latency CQP configuration \cite{r:AV1CTC}. \\
& &Other coding parameters: passes=2, cpu-used=1, kf-max-dist=64, kf-min-dist=64, arnr-maxframes=7, arnr-strength=5, lag-in-frames=16, aq-mode=0, bias-pct=100, minsection-pct=1, maxsection-pct=10000, auto-alt-ref=1, min-q=0, max-q=63, max-gf-interval=16, min-gf-interval=4 and color-primaries=bt709.\\
		\midrule
		\midrule
VVC VTM & 4.01 & Random access configuration \cite{s:JVETCTC}. \\
& & IntraPeriod=64 and GOPSize=16.  \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:codecs}
\end{table*}

This section describes the selection of source sequences and the different codec configurations used to generate their various compressed versions.

\subsection{Source sequence selection}

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\scriptsize
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S11.jpg}}
\centerline{V1: AirAcrobatic}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S12.jpg}}
\centerline{V2: CatRobot}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S13.jpg}}
\centerline{V3: Myanmar}
\end{minipage}

\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S14.jpg}}
\centerline{V4: CalmingWater}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S15.jpg}}
\centerline{V5: ToddlerFontain}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S16.jpg}}
\centerline{V6: Lampleaves}
\end{minipage}

\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S17.jpg}}
\centerline{V7: DaylightRoad}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S18.jpg}}
\centerline{V8: RedRock}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.325\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{S19.jpg}}
\centerline{V9: RollerCoaster}
\end{minipage}
\caption{Sample video frames from the selected source sequences.}
\label{fig:samples}
\end{figure}

Nine source sequences were selected from Harmonic \cite{w:Harmonic}, BVI-Texture and JVET (Joint Video Exploration Team) CTC (Common Test Conditions) datasets. Each sequence is progressively scanned, at Ultra High Definition (UHD, 3840$\times$2160) resolution, with a frame rate of 60 frames per second (fps), and without scene-cuts. All were truncated from their original lengths to five seconds (rather than the recommended 10 seconds in ITU standard \cite{r:BT500}). This reflects the recommendations of a recent study on optimal video duration for quality assessment \cite{j:Zhang4,j:Zhang6}. Sample frames from the selected nine source sequences alongside clip names and indices are shown in Fig. \ref{fig:samples}. The dataset includes three sequences with only local motion (without any camera motion, V1-V3), three sequences with dynamic textures (for definitions see \cite{j:Zhang}, V4-V6), and three with complex camera movements (V7-V9). The coverage of the video parameter space is confirmed in Fig.~\ref{fig: SITI}, where the Spatial and Temporal Information of the dataset (SI and TI)~\cite{j:Winkler1} are plotted.

In order to investigate coding performance for different resolutions and within an adaptive streaming framework, three spatial resolution groups were generated from the source sequences: (A) UHD (3840$\times$2160) only, (B) HD (1920$\times$1080) only, and (C) HD-Dynamic Optimizer (HD-DO). For group C, coding results for three different resolutions (1920$\times1080$, 1280$\times$720, and 960$\times$544) and with various quantisation parameters (QPs) were firstly generated. The reconstructed videos were then up-sampled to HD resolution (in order to provide a basis for comparison with the original HD sequences). Here, spatial resolution re-sampling was implemented using Lanczos-3 filters \cite{j:Duchon}. The rate points with optimal rate-quality performance (based on VMAF \cite{w:VMAF}) were selected across the three tested resolutions for each target bit rate and codec. This process is repeated to create the entire  convex hull in the DO approach \cite{w:DO}.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=1\linewidth]{SITI_CDC.pdf}
\caption{Scatter plot of SI and TI for the selected source sequences.}
\label{fig: SITI}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Coding configurations}
\label{sec:config}

The reference test models of HEVC and VVC, and their major competitor, AV1 have been evaluated in this study. Each codec was configured using the coding parameters defined in their common test conditions \cite{r:JCTVCAF1100,s:JVETCTC,r:AV1CTC}, with fixed quantisation parameters (rate control disabled), the same structural delay (e.g. defined as GOP size in the HEVC HM software) of 16 frames and the same random access intervals (e.g. defined as IntraPeriod in the HEVC HM software) of 64 frames. The actual codec versions and configuration parameters are provided in Table \ref{tab:codecs}.

Different target bit rates were pre-determined for each test sequence and for each resolution group (four points for resolution group A and B, and five for HD-DO group), and their values are shown in Table \ref{tab:bitrate}. These were determined based on the preliminary encoding results of the test sequences for each resolution group using AV1. This decision was made because the version of AV1 employed restricted production of bitstreams at pre-defined bit rates, as only integer quantisation parameters could be used. On the other hand, for HEVC HM and VVC VTM this was easier to achieve by enabling the ``QPIncrementFrame" parameter. In order to achieve these target bitrates, the quantisation parameter values were iteratively adjusted to ensure the output bit rates were sufficiently close to the targets (within a range of $\pm 3\%$).

\begin{table*}[ht]
 \caption{Pre-determined target bit rates for all test sequences in three resolution groups.}
\centering
		\begin{tabular}{l | r r r r |r r r r| r r r r r }
		\toprule
	\multirow{4}{*}{Sequence} & \multicolumn{13}{c}{Target Bitrates (kbps)} \\
	\cmidrule{2-14}
	& \multicolumn{4}{c|}{Resolution Group A (UHD only)} & \multicolumn{4}{c|}{Resolution Group B (HD only)} & \multicolumn{5}{c}{Resolution Group C (HD-DO)} \\
		\cmidrule{2-14}
	& R1 & R2 & R3 & R4 & R1 & R2 & R3 & R4 & R1 & R2 & R3 & R4 & R5 \\
	\midrule
		\midrule
	V1: AirAcrobatic 		& 1300 	&	2250	&4700		&9270			&550		& 920		& 1850   &3400		& 305    &     575    &     940   &     1770    &    3350 \\
		\midrule
	V2: CatRobot				& 3170  & 5450  &8450   &14500    &1480   & 2200  & 3250   &5440		& 910    &    1500    &    2200   &     3250    &    5500\\
		\midrule
	V3: Myanmar 				& 11000 & 21100 &33500 	&46000		&3450   & 5500  & 8200   &10800		& 2100   &     3450   &     5500  &      8150   &    10800\\
		\midrule
	V4: CalmingWater 		& 10100 & 19250 &30000  &50000 		&3100   & 6400  &12000   &21000		& 1140   &     3050   &     6550  &     12200   &    20500\\
		\midrule
	V5: ToddlerFountain & 13180	& 27000	&38350  &69800 		&6150   & 13500 &21500   &34500		& 2900   &     5900   &    13200  &     20500   &    34900\\
		\midrule
	V6: LampLeaves 			& 14550 & 26460 &43900  &69800 		&8100   & 14200 &20500   &33000		&  5030  &      8100  &     14000 &      20500  &     33500\\
		\midrule
	V7: DaylightRoad 		& 2650  & 4450  & 7050  &12170 		&1220   &  1800 & 3000   & 5300		& 810    &    1220    &    1800   &     3000    &    5300\\
		\midrule
	V8: RedRock 				& 1500  & 2600  & 4000  &6380 		&	680   &  1000 & 1650   & 2500   & 460    &     650    &    1020   &     1600    &    2450\\
		\midrule
	V9: RollerCoaster 	& 1750  & 2880  & 4600  &7350 		&880    &  1480 & 2270   & 3564   &  550   &      850   &     1480  &      2280   &     3580\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:bitrate}
\end{table*}

\subsection{Summary}

In summary, a total number of 306 distorted sequences were produced: there are 108 (9 source sequences $\times$ 4 rate points $\times$ 3 codecs) for Resolution Group A (UHD only), 108 (9$\times$4$\times$3) for Resolution Group B (HD only), and 90 (9$\times$5$\times$2) for Resolution Group C (HD-DO)\footnote{We have not compared VVC with other codecs using the DO approach. This is mainly due to the high computation complexity of VVC and the limited computational resources that we have. Preliminary results for Group A and B have already shown the significant improvement of VVC over the other two.}.

\section{Subjective Experiments}
\label{sec:exp}

Three subjective experiment sessions were conducted separately on the test sequences in the three resolution groups. The experimental setup, procedure, test methodology and data processing approach are reported in this section.

\subsection{Environmental Setup}

All three experiment sessions were conducted in a darkened, living room-style environment. The background luminance level was set to 15\% of the peak luminance of the monitor used (62.5 lux) \cite{r:BT500}. All test sequences were shown at their native spatial resolution and frame rates, on a consumer display, a SONY KD65Z9D LCD TV, which measures 1429$\times$804mm, with a peak luminance of 410 lux. The viewing distance was set to 121cm (1.5 times the screen height) for Resolution Group A (UHD) and 241cm (three times the screen height) for Resolution Group B (HD) and C (HD-DO), following the recommendation in ITU-R BT.500 \cite{r:BT500} and ITU-R P.910 \cite{r:P910}. The presentation of video sequences was controlled by  a Windows PC running
 an open source software, BVI-SVQA~\cite{SVQAlink}, developed at the University of Bristol for psychophysical experiments.

\subsection{Experimental Procedure}
\label{sec:test}

In all three experiments, the Double Stimulus Continuous Quality Scale (DSCQS) \cite{r:BT500} methodology was used. In each trial, participants were shown a pair of sequences twice, including original and  encoded versions. The presentation order was randomised in each trial and was unknown to each participant. Participants had unlimited time to respond to the following question (presented on the video monitor):  ``\textit{Please rate the quality (0-100) of the first/second video. Excellent--90, Good--70, Fair--50, Poor--30 and Bad--10}''. Participants  then used a mouse to scroll through the vertical scale and score (0-100) for these two videos.  The total duration of each experimental session was approximately 50 (Resolution Group A and B) or 60 (Resolution Group C) minutes, and each was split into two sub-sessions with a 10 minute break in between. Before the formal test, there was a training session consisting of three trials (different from those used  in the formal test).

\subsection{Participants and Data Processing}

A total of 60 subjects (20 for each test session), with an average age of 27 (age range 20-45), from the University of Bristol were compensated for their participation in the experiments. All of them were tested for normal or corrected-to normal vision. Responses from the subjects were first recorded as quality scores in the range 0-100, as explained earlier. Difference scores were then calculated for each trial and each subject by subtracting the quality score of the distorted sequence from its corresponding reference. Difference Mean Opinion Scores (DMOS) were then obtained for each trial by taking the mean of the difference scores among participants.

\section{Results and Discussion}
\label{sec:results}

This section presents the codec comparison results based on objective and subjective quality assessments, alongside encoder and decoder complexity assessments. For the objective evaluation, two video quality metrics have been employed: the commonly used Peak-Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (PSNR) and Video Multi-method Assessment Fusion (VMAF) \cite{w:VMAF}. The latter is a machine learning-based video quality metric, which predicts subjective quality by combining multiple quality metrics and video features, including the Detail Loss Metric (DLM) \cite{j:Li2}, Visual Information Fidelity measure (VIF) \cite{j:Sheikh}, and averaged temporal frame difference \cite{w:VMAF}. The fusion process employs a \textnu-Support Vector machine (\textnu-SVM) regressor \cite{j:Cortes}. VMAF has been evaluated on various video quality databases, and shows improved correlation with subjective scores \cite{w:VMAF,j:Zhang7,j:Li5}. In this work VMAF has also been employed to determine optimum resolution for each test rate point and sequence, following the procedure described in Section \ref{sec:config}. The difference between test video codecs in terms of coding efficiency was calculated using the Bj{\o}ntegaard Delta (BD) measurements \cite{r:Bjontegaard} benchmarked against HEVC HM.

The rate-quality curves are plotted for each test sequence in all three resolution groups, where the subjective quality is defined as 100-DMOS for each rate point. A significance test was then conducted using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)  \cite{j:Narwaria1,j:Katsenou} between each paired of codecs on all rate points and sequences.

The subjective data has also been used to evaluate six popular objective video quality metrics, including PSNR, Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) \cite{j:ssim}, multi-scale SSIM (MS-SSIM) \cite{c:mssim}, VIF \cite{j:Sheikh}, Visual Signal-to-Noise Ratio (VSNR) \cite{j:vsnr}, and VMAF. Following the procedure in \cite{r:vqeg}, their quality indices and the subjective DMOS were fitted based on a weighted least-squares approach using a logistic fitting function for three different resolution groups. The correlation performance of these quality metrics was assessed using four correlation statistics, the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient (SROCC), the Linear Correlation Coefficient (LCC), the Outlier Ratio (OR) and the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). The definitions of these parameters can be found in \cite{r:vqeg,j:Zhang3}.

Finally, the computational complexity of the three tested encoders was calculated and normalised to HEVC HM for Resolution Group A and B. They were executed on the CPU nodes of a shared cluster, Blue Crystal Phase3 \cite{w:BC3} based at the University of Bristol. Each node has 16$\times$2.6 GHz SandyBridge cores and 64GB RAM.

\begin{table*}[ht]
 \caption{Codec comparison results based on PSNR and VMAF quality metrics. Here Bj{\o}ntegaard Delta \cite{r:Bjontegaard} measurements (BD-rate) were employed, and HEVC HM was used as benchmark.}
\centering
\small
		\begin{tabular}{l || c c| c c || c c  |c c  ||c | c}
		\toprule
	Resolution Group & \multicolumn{4}{c||}{A (UHD)} & \multicolumn{4}{c||}{B (HD)} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{C (HD-DO)} \\
	\cmidrule{1-11}
Codec	& \multicolumn{2}{c|}{PSNR} & \multicolumn{2}{c||}{VMAF} &\multicolumn{2}{c|}{PSNR} & \multicolumn{2}{c||}{VMAF} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{PSNR}  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{VMAF}\\
		\cmidrule{1-11}
Sequence\textbackslash BD-rate & AV1 & VTM  & AV1 & VTM   & AV1 & VTM  & AV1 & VTM &AV1 & AV1\\
	\midrule
		\midrule
	AirAcrobatic 		& -12.1\% 	&	-25.5\%				&-12.0\%			&-28.6\%				& -2.6\%   	&-21.7\%			& 4.2\%   	&-20.0\%		& 13.3\%    &     -0.1\%    \\
		\midrule
	CatRobot				& -6.2\%  	& -38.0\%  	    &-12.8\%    	&-39.6\%   	  	& -4.0\%   	&-37.7\%		  & -10.4\%   	&-41.2\%		& -2.1\%    &    -11.3\%   \\
		\midrule
	Myanmar 				& 4.3\% 		& -17.2\% 	 	  &1.3\%				&-21.3\%   	  	& 6.5\%   	&-15.5\%		  & 3.5\%   	&-18.6\%		& 8.4\%   &     5.1\%  \\
		\midrule
	CalmingWater 		& -15.5\% 	& -21.5\% 	  	&-9.6\% 			&-18.9\%  	  	&-15.7\%   	&-22.6\%		  & -10.2\%   	&-19.6\%		& -13.0\%   &     -10.4\%  \\
		\midrule
	ToddlerFountain & -6.6\%		& -18.7\%		  	&-2.0\% 			&-17.4\%   	 		&-8.1\%   	&-18.2\%		  & -3.7\%   	&-16.4\%		& -7.8\%   &    -7.3\% \\
		\midrule
	LampLeaves 			& -6.8\% 		& -26.2\% 	  	&-6.2\% 			&-26.1\%   	 		&-2.8\%   	&-23.7\%		  & -0.4\%   	&-24.8\%		& 6.7\%  &     -1.2\%\\
		\midrule
	DaylightRoad 		& -3.8\%  	& -38.0\%  	    &-12.4\% 			&-40.3\%   	 	  & -0.9\%   	&-37.6\%		  & -10.4\%   	&-42.4\%		& 0.9\%    &    -9.8\%   \\
		\midrule
	RedRock 				& -3.5\%  	& -32.5\%  	    &-9.0\% 			&-37.9\%   	 	  & 0.8\%   	&-31.5\%   	  & -6.4\%   	&-37.7\%		& 16.1\%    &    -8.0\%   \\
		\midrule
	RollerCoaster 	& -15.3\%  	& -39.9\%  	    &-14.5\% 			&-41.7\%     	  & -7.9\%   	&-38.9\%      & -11.5\%   	&-39.8\%		& -6.6\%    &    -13.5\%   \\
			\midrule
					\midrule
	Average 						& -7.3\%		& -28.5\%			&-8.6\%				&-30.2\%					& -3.8\%		&-27.5\%			& -5.0\%   	&-28.9\%		& 1.8\% & -6.3\% \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:results}
\end{table*}

\subsection{Results based on objective quality assessment}

Table \ref{tab:results} summarises the Bj{\o}ntegaard Delta measurements (BD-rate) \cite{r:Bjontegaard} of AOM AV1 (for three resolution groups) and VVC VTM (for Resolution Group A and B only) compared with HEVC HM, based on both PSNR and VMAF. For the tested codec versions and configurations, it can be observed that AV1 achieves an average bit rate saving of 7.3\% against HEVC HM for the UHD test content assessed by PSNR, and this figure reduces (3.8\%) at HD resolution. When VMAF is employed for quality assessment, the coding gains of AV1 over HM are slightly higher, averaging 8.6\% and 5.0\% for UHD and HD respectively. Comparing to AV1, VTM provides significant bit rate savings for both HD and UHD test content, with average BD-rate values between -27\% and -30\% for PSNR and VMAF. For resolution group C, where VMAF-based DO was applied for HM and AV1, the coding gain achieved by AV1 is 6.3\% (over HM) assessed by VMAF, while there is a BD-rate  (1.8\%) loss when PSNR is employed. In overall conclusion, the performance of AV1 makes a small improvement over HM on the test content, and both AV1 and HM perform (significantly) worse than VTM.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\scriptsize
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.485\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{HM-DO_VMAF.pdf}}
\centerline{(a) HM}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.485\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{AV1-DO_VMAF.pdf}}
\centerline{(b) AV1}
\end{minipage}
\caption{The average rate-VMAF curves of the nine test sequences for HM and AV1 with and without applying DO.}
\label{fig:DO}
\end{figure}

In order to further compare performance in the context of dynamic optimization (DO), the average rate-VMAF curves of the nine test sequences (HD resolution only) for HM and AV1 with and without DO are shown in Fig. \ref{fig:DO}. It can be observed that DO has achieved slightly higher overall coding gains for AV1  (BD-rate is -8.2\%) on the tested content compared to HM (BD-rate is -6.1\%). For both codecs, the savings become lower for higher bitrates (low QP and high quality). It should be noted that the DO approach employed was based on efficient up-sampling using simple spatial filters. More significant improvement has been reported \cite{j:Zhang9,j:Zhang12} when more advanced up-sampling approaches are applied, such as deep learning based super-resolution.

\subsection{Results based on subjective quality assessment}

For each resolution group, we performed outlier rejection on all participant scores. No participants were rejected. Then, we performed one-way ANOVA analysis between pairs of the tested codecs to assess the significance of the differences. Tables~\ref{tab:ANOVAscoreUHD1}-\ref{tab:ANOVAscoreDO1} summarise this comparison.

\subsubsection{Resolution Group A (UHD)}

As can be seen in Table~\ref{tab:ANOVAscoreUHD1}, the significance tests indicate only two points which exhibit significant difference ($p < .05$) between HM and AV1: Myanmar sequence at R1 and LampLeaves at R2. The reason that significant differences are noticed in the case of the Myanmar sequence may be associated with the observation that, at lower bit rates, the AV1 encoder demonstrates noticeable artifacts on regions of interest (on the heads of walking monks). Performing significance tests between VTM and HM, more cases with significant difference were identified. Particularly, for CatRobot at R1 and R3; for LampLeaves at R1; for DaylightRoad at R1; and for RedRock at R1. Similarly, the significant differences between VTM and AV1 are: for CatRobot at  R1; for Myanmar at R1; for DaylightRoad at R2 and R3; and for RedRock at R1.

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\footnotesize
    \caption{Aggregated significant difference of perceived quality among the tested codecs. The maximum points that can be reached is 36 (aka the number of tested sequences).}
    \begin{tabular}{c| c c c c}
    \toprule
    \centering
    \textbf{Codecs} &\textbf{AV1} & \textbf{HM}  & \textbf{VTM}\\
                  \toprule
     \textbf{AV1} & - & 2/36, (1/-1)& 5/36, (0/-5)\\
     \textbf{HM} & 2/36, (1/-1)&- & 5/36, (0/-5)\\
     \textbf{VTM} & 5/36, (5/0)& 5/36, (5/0)& -\\
     \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
    \label{tab:ANOVAscoreUHD1}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\footnotesize
    \caption{Aggregated significant difference of perceived quality among the tested codecs. The maximum points that can be reached is 36 (aka the number of tested sequences).}
    \begin{tabular}{c| c c c c}
    \toprule
    \centering
    \textbf{Codecs} &\textbf{AV1} & \textbf{HM}  & \textbf{VTM}\\
                  \toprule
     \textbf{AV1} & - & 2/36, (0/-2)& 15/36, (0/-15)\\
     \textbf{HM} & 2/36, (2/0)&- & 14/36, (0/-14)\\
     \textbf{VTM} & 15/36, (15/0)& 14/36, (14/0)& -\\
     \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
    \label{tab:ANOVAscoreHD1}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\footnotesize
    \caption{Aggregated significant difference of perceived quality among the tested codecs. The maximum points that can be reached is 45 (aka the number of tested sequences).}
    \begin{tabular}{c| c c c c}
    \toprule
    \centering
    \textbf{Codecs} &\textbf{AV1} & \textbf{HM}  \\
                  \toprule
     \textbf{AV1} & - & 6/45, (0/-6)\\
     \textbf{HM} & 6/45, (6/0) & - \\
     \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
    \label{tab:ANOVAscoreDO1}
\end{table}

\subsubsection{Resolution Group B (HD)}

Generally, the results for the resolution Group B align with those for Group A. We performed outlier rejection on the participant scores and, again, no one was rejected. We then performed one-way ANOVA analysis between pairs of the tested codecs to assess the significance of the differences. Table~\ref{tab:ANOVAscoreHD1} summarises this comparison. From this Table, it can be observed that VTM is significantly better than HM in 14 cases and better than AV1 in 15 cases, and these figures are a factor of three times more than those for the 4K results.

\subsubsection{Resolution Group C (HD-DO)}

After performing the significance test using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) between paired AV1 and HM sequences, only six rate points were indicated as significantly different. This is illustrated by the $p$-values for each of the 45 encoded pairs of AV1/HEVC sequences. In six cases, HM is significantly better than AV1 ($p<0.05$): at R4 for AirAcrobatic; at R1-R4 for Myanmar; and at R2 for LampLeaves.

\subsection{Objective Quality Metric Performance Comparison}

The correlation performance of six tested objective quality metrics for three resolution groups (in terms of SROCC values) is summarised in Table \ref{tab:obj}. It can be observed that VMAF outperforms the other five metrics on all three test databases with the highest SROCC and LCC values, and lowest OR and RMSE. PSNR results in much lower performance, especially for the UHD resolution group. It is also noted that, for all test quality metrics, the SROCC values for three resolution groups are all below 0.9, which indicates that further enhancement is still needed to achieve more accurate prediction.

\begin{table*}[htbp]
 \caption{The correlation statistics of six popular quality metrics when evaluated on three subject datasets (UHD, HD and HD-DO).}
\centering
\small
		\begin{tabular}{c || cccc || cccc || cccc }
		\toprule
	Database & \multicolumn{4}{c||}{UHD (108)} & \multicolumn{4}{c||}{HD (108)} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{HD-DO (90)} \\
	Metric & SROCC & LCC &OR &RMSE & SROCC & LCC &OR &RMSE & SROCC & LCC &OR &RMSE \\
	\midrule
\midrule PSNR & 0.5517&0.6278&0.3056&8.7540 & 0.6097&0.6268&0.5556&12.5870 & 0.7462&0.7439&0.4222&13.3191\\
\midrule SSIM & 0.5911&0.5853&0.3148&9.2195 & 0.7194&0.6757&0.4907&11.5968 & 0.8026&0.7836&0.3778&12.2184\\
\midrule MSSSIM & 0.7426&0.7436&0.2130&7.4102 & 0.7534&0.7241&0.4537&10.7594 & 0.8321&0.8228&0.3556&11.1398\\
\midrule VIF & 0.7464&0.7749&0.1852&6.9273 & 0.7459&0.7592&0.3796&10.0815 & 0.8232&0.8321&0.3778&10.8851\\
\midrule VSNR & 0.5961&0.6580&0.2500&8.4062 & 0.5763&0.6587&0.3889&12.0502 & 0.6581&0.7039&0.4778&14.0736\\
\midrule VMAF & \textbf{0.8463}&\textbf{0.8375}&\textbf{0.1574}&\textbf{5.9972} & \textbf{0.8723}&\textbf{0.8476}&\textbf{0.2870}&\textbf{7.9969} & \textbf{0.8783}&\textbf{0.8840}&\textbf{0.2556}&\textbf{9.1395}\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:obj}
\end{table*}

\subsection{Computational complexity analysis}

The average complexity figures for encoding UHD and HD content are summarised in Table \ref{tab:complexity}, where the HM encoder has been used for benchmarking. The average complexity is computed as the average ratio of the execution time of the tested codec for all rate points over the benchmark. As can be seen, for the tested codec versions, AV1 has a higher complexity compared to VTM\footnote{It is noted that the complexity for AV1 in more recent versions have been significantly reduced.}. Interestingly these figures are higher for the HD than the UHD resolution. The relationship between the relative complexity and encoding performance (in terms of average coding gains for PSNR and VMAF) is also shown in Fig. \ref{fig:complexity}.

\begin{table}[ht]
 \caption{Computational complexity comparison.}
\centering
\footnotesize
		\begin{tabular}{l | c c c}
		\toprule
	Resolution Group/Codecs & HM & AV1 & VTM \\
	\midrule
	\midrule
	Resolution Group A (UHD)& 1 & 9.37$\times$ & 7.04$\times$\\
	\midrule
	Resolution Group B (HD) &1 & 14.29$\times$ & 8.84$\times$\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:complexity}
\end{table}

\begin{figure*}[htbp]
\scriptsize
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.245\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{CP_UHD_PSNR.pdf}}
\centerline{(a) UHD/PSNR}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.245\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{CP_UHD_VMAF.pdf}}
\centerline{(b) UHD/VMAF}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.245\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{CP_HD_PSNR.pdf}}
\centerline{(c) HD/PSNR}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.245\linewidth}
\centering
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=1.02\linewidth]{CP_HD_VMAF.pdf}}
\centerline{(d) HD/VMAF}
\end{minipage}
\caption{The relationship between the relative codec complexity (benchmarked on HM) and encoding performance (in terms of average coding gains) for different resolution groups and quality metrics.}
\label{fig:complexity}

\end{figure*}

\section{Conclusions}
\label{sec:conclusions}

This paper presents performance evaluation results for three major contemporary video codecs, HEVC HM, AV1, and VVC VTM, based on both objective and subjective assessments. Representative test sequences at UHD and HD resolutions were encoded using these codecs to achieve pre-defined target bitrates. The convex hull rate-distortion optimisation has been further employed to compare HEVC HM and AV1 across different resolutions (HD and below) and across a wider bit rate range. The collected subjective data have also been used to evaluate six commonly used quality metrics. Overall, for the tested versions, HM and AV1 are not significantly different in terms of perceived quality at the same bit rates and all resolution-groups. The tested VTM version is however performing significantly better than HM and AV1. All the original and compressed video sequences and their corresponding subjective scores are now available online\footnote{https://vilab.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/?p=2295} for public testing.

{\small
\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\small

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text:
Home Politics Sale of F-16 jets should not be of concern to India: Pentagon
Sale of F-16 jets should not be of concern to India: Pentagon
News Mobile Political Bureau
India's issues with the Obama Administration's decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan was me with a heavy hand by the Pentagon as it said that it should not be a cause of concern for India as the regional security situation was taken into account at the time of sale.
"We don't think it should cause concern for India," said Peter Cook, Pentagon Press Secretary.
"We think this is a capability that will help Pakistan in its counterterrorism effort and we think that's in the national security interests of the United States," Cook said responding to questions on India's disappointment over sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan.
The Obama Administration said on February 13 it had decided to sell eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets worth nearly USD 700 million to Pakistan despite mounting opposition from influential lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
"This sale always took into account the regional security situation. We look at our relationship with Pakistan and our relationship with India as separate relationships. We think this is important capabilities for the Pakistanis to go after terrorists in that country," Cook said.
India summoned US Ambassador Richard Verma to convey its "displeasure and disappointment" over the decision.
India disagreed with the US' rationale that such arms transfers help Pakistan in combating terrorism and believes the US military aid to Pakistan goes into anti-India activities.
These additional F-16 aircraft will facilitate operations in all-weather, non-daylight environments, provide a self- defence/area suppression capability, and enhance Pakistan's ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter terrorism operations, the Pentagon had said.
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So… after Paris, now what?
Posted on June 2, 2017 by Al B.
I doubt that anyone reading this hasn't heard that the President of the 2nd largest polluting nation in the world has decided to walk away from a voluntary agreement to reduce greenhouse gases in the face of irrefutable proof that the earth is heading towards disaster within the lifetime of people alive now. He did this by saying he "supports the environment", which one? And exactly how?
So now, we go on without the federal government's support. We can do that, we must do it and we will do it. Real leaders, not the fake ones in the White House and the EPA, have stood up and declared they will. Our Governor Jay Inslee, Oregon and California's governors, Bloomberg in NYC, ex-Governor of California Arnold Schwartznegger and many many others are committing to simply go around and through the Federal Government.
The President has abrogated his primary role, which is to protect the people of the United States from harm and protect the Constitution. It will be meaningless to protect the constitution if the planet dies. His scientific brain trust and numerous business leaders advised him not to pull out of the agreement. Our allies and religious leaders did too.Add to this, his office of Emergency Management, during the beginning of this hurricane season, still is without a leader. .Mr Trump spends more time tweeting at 6 AM than actually doing something about filling key roles in his administration. His lack of leadership and his filling his closest ranks with traitors to this country, people who lack the moral compass to not fraternize with the enemy behind the backs of our own intelligence community is unprecedented. In making the announcement the other day, he had he nerve to say he "represented Pittsburg" when he lost Pittsburg to Hillary Clinton by almost 80 to 20%. He is a habitual liar and a small percentage of the American people believe him all the time.
So stay calm and carry on. This too will pass. And let's find a leader for 2020 that can win in Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin before the Republicans realize that Trump is more of a liability than an asset and impeach him. In the meantime there is a lot of work to do.


Due to heavy traffic, the children are now expected to be back at 4.15pm.
The children are now on their way back to school after enjoying their final activity and dinner. They expect to be back at 3.45pm.
The children are awake (although you may not think that, looking at them). Their bags are packed ready for the bus.
We have 3G swing and Aeroball this morning, then on the bus home after lunch. We will send school an eta as soon as we have it.


Mila Kunis Nature has given a beautiful appearance, but like every girl, the actress has its own beauty secrets. But the most important place, perhaps, is competently executed makeup. It's about the makeup of Mila Kunis in the style of today and we will tell.
With the help of make-up star of the "Black Swan" creates an image of a seductive beauty that breaks millions of hearts.
Before talking about the eye make-up, first let's talk about skin. In Mila's quite dark skin, so it is always tonal basis chosen a dark shade. To hide signs of tiredness or problem areas of the face, use concealer Mila Kunis, without which it does not do nearly every actress. Mila Kunis does it on the dark patches around the eyes and on problem areas. The actress does not use powder, which prefers to replace the bronzer.
The important role played by Mila Kunis makeup eyebrows, which she never forgets to emphasize. Mila Kunis plucked eyebrows never in the form of threads, but only emphasized their shape. Her eyebrows neat and at the same time broad enough. With the help of a special gel for eyebrows actress leads them in order, and then emphasizes the pencil the same shade as her hair.
So, we pass to the eyes. First ever applied to a base for make-up, which can be used instead of the usual cream for eyelids. Milo likes makeup in chocolate and brown tones. And making the right choice, because the green-eyed girls a color scheme fits most.
Apply for an eyebrow beige shade.
At the lower eyelids and rolling hesitate to light brown color.
On the outer corner of eye, fold and slightly above the rolling centuries put chocolate color shades.
Blend all the boundaries of the special brush.
After the actress paid a shadow, she brings the lower lid with black, green or brown eyeliner. Mila Kunis often draws an arrow with a black liquid eyeliner.
Kunis also stained their eyelashes mascara in two coats to get the effect of false eyelashes, but if nature had not endowed with long lush lashes you, use their artificial version.
Finally, apply to apples of cheeks, peach blush, lip gloss on a pale pink color, which gives them volume.


A car crash in the Midlands could result in a driver seeking compensation.
Two women were taken to hospital for treatment following a collision the junction of Fosse Way and Darlingscote Road in Shipston-on-Stour, near Stratford.
The injuries of one of the females to her abdomen and pelvis area were described as "potentially serious" by a spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, reports the Coventry Telegraph.
"Once freed, with the assistance of the fire service, the woman was treated at the scene," she told the newspaper.
More treatment was then given to the female after she was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry, while the woman in the other car was believed to have suffered injuries to her chest and was taken to Warwick Hospital.
STV recently reported on an incident in which a 31-year-old was involved in an accident with a car, suffering head injuries that required treatment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.


text:
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: Grimbo1 on 15/11/2013 19:25:23
Title: Does everything in the universe rotate?
Post by: Grimbo1 on 15/11/2013 19:25:23
Why does everything in the universe rotate ?
Title: Re: rotation
Post by: Ethos_ on 15/11/2013 20:08:13
Quote from: Grimbo1 on 15/11/2013 19:25:23
That depends upon your definition of "rotate". Remember that all motion in the universe is relative to one's frame of reference. Consider the moon for one example. One side of the moon is always facing the earth so in one respect, it doesn't appear to be rotating. However, it does circle the earth so in another respect, it does.
Rotation is caused by energy imparted to a body or system. In the cosmic realm, rotation is usually caused by gravitational energies. In the quantum realm, rotation can look very different and unusual to us. In this micro realm, these rotations are imparted, in large part, thru heat energy and charge differentials.
It all boils down to different energies applied to material objects.
Post by: RD on 15/11/2013 20:21:13
A perfectly uniform arrangement of matter is required to avoid rotation.
The random chaotic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory) nature of nature means such uniformity generally does not occur, so rotation is the norm.
e.g. formation of a rotating of protoplanetary disc from a cloud ...
Protostars typically form from molecular clouds consisting primarily of molecular hydrogen. When a portion of a molecular cloud reaches a critical size, mass, or density, it begins to collapse under its own gravity. As this collapsing cloud, called a solar nebula, becomes denser, random gas motions originally present in the cloud average out in favor of the direction of the nebula's net angular momentum. Conservation of angular momentum causes the rotation to increase as the nebula radius decreases. This rotation causes the cloud to flatten out—much like forming a flat pizza out of dough—and take the form of a disk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoplanetary_disk#Formation
Post by: yor_on on 18/11/2013 01:09:36
If the moon didn't rotate, we should find it rotating, as is moves around Earth :)
But it doesn't. So, it does :)
Post by: Soul Surfer on 26/11/2013 08:54:25
Grimbo The answer to your question is simple. The universe was very smooth and flowing evenly in the early stages of its existence as shown in the cosmic microwave background signal. However radiation and stellar winds from stars together with many explosions of supernovae have created turbulence in the flow of gases etc throughout the universe when these are created they do not generate any overall angular momentum (rotation) for the universe but they do generate rotation in all sorts of different directions that balances out to zero overall. When bodies contract under gravity to form stars and galaxies there is always a small imbalance in this rotation in some "random" direction. As the collapse progresses this rotation speeds up and becomes more visible and so all collapsed bodies rotate to a certain extent but some more than others.
Surveys have been taken of the net speed and direction of rotation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies and currently there appears to be no clearly favoured direction overall although there are slight hints that there may be one.
It is also important to note that black holes because they are so tiny. A black hole with the mass of the sun is one million times smaller than the sun at around one mile across! Almost all black holes must be rotating at the absolute maximum speed allowed
There is an upper limit to the amount of angular momentum energy (rotation) that a black hole of given mass can contain. Any particle that attempts to exceed this limit will not fall into it but just "bounce off" and not cross the event horizon!
Title: Re: Does everything in the universe rotate?
Soulsurfer, I agree with all you wrote there, but there's one thing I wonder about. Is there any mathematical or physical proof guaranteeing that the rotations take them self out? Or is it a reasonable assumption?
Conservation laws? Or is it symmetry?
Eh, one more thing though. Sort of missed "There is an upper limit to the amount of angular momentum energy (rotation) that a black hole of given mass can contain. Any particle that attempts to exceed this limit will not fall into it but just "bounce off" and not cross the event horizon!"
That one was new to me, is that your own, or do you have a link for it?
Post by: Phractality on 30/11/2013 21:35:53
Rotating masses have angular momentum. Angular momentum is a vector; the total angular momentum of a system is the vector sum of the angular momenta of its parts. By definition, that vector points in the direction of your right thumb when the fingers of your right hand indicate the motion of the surface. If a body appears to rotate clockwise from your point of view, then the its angular-momentum vector points away from you. Identical masses rotating in opposite directions have a net angular momentum of zero. As far as we know, the total angular momentum of the universe is zero.
A body with zero net angular momentum can break into two or more parts, each of which has non-zero angular momentum; but the vector sum of angular momenta of the parts must be the same as the original angular momentum of the parent body.
At the quantum scale, particles have a property called "spin", but this may or may not relate to rotation of the particle's constituent parts, which in many cases are not observable or even hypothesized. In some cases, it is not known if that spin implies the existence of angular momentum. If a particle has non-zero angular momentum and zero diameter (perpendicular to its spin axis), then it's rotation rate, if it has one, is either infinite or undefined.
Post by: Aethelstan on 05/12/2013 20:46:04
I remember reading in one of Michio Kaku's books that a rotating universe would violate causality for some reason, therefore the sum angular momentum of the universe is zero.
A rotating universe is equivalent to one with closed time like curves I think? Meaning that it allows for 'time travels'. And there is some vague memory of some whispering that there seemed to be evidence for the universe rotating, looking at the universe from astronomical photos, but another memory insists that this was debunked later.
If you have time travels causality will be violated, as any other idea in where you can get a cause to appear, before the effect leading to it.
Closed timelike curves and causality violation. (http://arxiv.org/abs/1008.1127)
btw: it won't help to 'split' universes as one goes 'back in time', assuming the one you come to, to be a 'new version' of your old at a equivalent time and place. Not as long as it includes you too, because now you will have two versions of yourself in it, and that should violate causality too. To me this reasoning seem to lead to a necklace of 'time travels', in where there is no end to it, to give it a balance. If you imagine yourself as consisting of an amount of energy 'time travels' also seem to violate the conservation laws, assuming a arrow of time. Only if ignoring that arrow, and taking a measure of a whole SpaceTime under all of its existence can you argue a equilibrium to exist. So it seems to demand the arrow to be a illusion as well, to exist.
Post by: Bill S on 16/12/2013 18:37:51
Has the "gravastar" proposed by Mazur and Chapline been debunked yet?
The name is derived from the words Gravitational Vacuum Star. My, possibly very over-simplified, understanding is that a gravastar is a black hole within which not everything is crushed into an infinitely small space, or even into a super-heavyweight micro-speck. In a nutshell, a gravastar, according to Mazur and Chapline, is formed when an exceptionally large star nears the end of its life and starts to collapse under its own gravity. During this process it reaches a critical density at which its matter is converted into energy which gives rise to a fiery boundary layer. This is the gravastar. From outside its appearance will be that of an enormous star. Further collapse will be prevented because, the authors state, the gravity of spacetime inside the boundary will be repulsive. All cannot remain in a state of equilibrium, however, because some of the energy at the boundary will be converted back into particles of matter.
Such particles that form on the inside of the boundary layer will be accelerated away from one another by the repulsive gravity mentioned above. This scenario, in which every particle of matter is rushing away from every other particle, bears a striking similarity to the Big Bang scenario. A major difference, however, is that the original star in this model will have been spinning, (everything in the observable Universe spins, so there is no reason to suppose that this particular star would not do so) and this spin will be conserved in the gravastar. Mazur and Chapline reason that this spin will manifest itself as vortices forming near the boundary, but being left behind as the boundary moves outward. These vortices will influence the movement of matter particles, giving rise to the formation of stars and galaxies. Although the vortices, and subsequent structures to which they give rise, may have been left behind by the spreading boundary, they will not be stationary, but will continue to recede from one another in precisely the manner described for the expanding Universe which we observe around us. The boundary will be racing away from the vortices nearest to it in the same way that the vortices and galaxies continue to recede from one another. Obviously, the flatness and temperature problems will not arise in this model, as there will have been plenty of time, during the lifetime of the original star, for every part to have had contact with every other part.
Whether or not this idea still has commands any credence, I would be glad of comments, just to test my own understanding.
I don't know, it seems to be allowed by GR:s equations? Then again, I'm not happy about 'negative' gravity, or repulsive? Saw someone else describe it as "The gravastar theory claims that the "springy space" is a result of gravitic distortion of quantum fluctuations in space, leading to a phase change, similar to a Bose-Einstein Condensate. The springy space is thus a condensate bubble surrounded by a shell of gravitational energy." In that case it seems really close to the idea of 'virtual particles' and then the claim becomes, what? I'm not following it any further than that? That virtual particles contribute to a gravity? Or that a condensate somehow allow them to be long lived?
All gravity I ever have heard of is connected to mass, or (uniform constant) accelerations, but as far as I know gravity has only one sign. Doesn't matter how you look at it, it's of one sign.
No plus and minus to it.
So if you're right in that it can be seen to have a 'repulsive gravity', then that one needs to be experimentally defined. I can't see gravity taking out gravity? If we on the other hand define a 'empty shell' of some immense density? I don't know?
Think of a empty shell of a immense density, imagine yourself inside it. Will there exist geodesics? It must. Everywhere you can imagine, a geodesic should be possible. So whatever gravity is, it's on one hand acting on you, you acting on it, everywhere. On the other hand geodesics without 'friction/resistance' also exists, everywhere.
Nah: if it was this one http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/ns-tce030806.php ??
I think the dark energy star was a later development from the gravastar. Obviously that was still going a few years ago.
Post by: acsinuk on 03/01/2014 11:02:31
WMAP is quite clear that stars are repelling each other and rotating in galaxies. So would your dark energy star do the same?? Dark energy should better be re-defined as the dark force that is making stars repel each other.
That repelling force may well be electrical and thus would be massless.


text:
Olympias (Angelina Jolie) and Alexander (Colin Farrell) are mother and son in ALEXANDER (2004)
Right off the bat, I have to admit that I don't like this film. Even though it looks good, everything about it rubs me the wrong way. Director Oliver Stone doesn't know how to film a PEPLUM production. His (disjointed) style doesn't work with this expensive production. A film like this has to have a certain amount of nobility or grandiose vision, which it lacks. Also, it's really bad camp, with Farrell wide-eyed throughout. Every time he's one screen, I always fight the need to laugh out loud. As for Angelina, her awful accent and over-acting (actually, everyone overacts in this) as Alexander's mother, well, it doesn't get any worse than this. Like so many films such as this one (old and new), the entire international cast have conflicting accents. It's one of those odd things which afflicts the genre (think of QUO VADIS and Robert Taylor's American accent versus the British accents from most of the cast). THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) is camp but at least it's brilliant camp. This production is near risible camp. In parts, it's almost unwatchable. The film was a flop and the infamous same-sex love interest didn't help it at the box office but in the end the film itself was the reason no one wanted to see it.
Richard Svensson said...
I find that I can watch individual parts of this film, and enjoy it quite well. But as a whole it's just one long uphill climb. And the crazy accents are too distracting! Apparently, Macedonians all have the Irish brogue.
Although I like the movie far better than you do, Angelina's accept always sounds to me like Natasha Fatale on Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Quintus Rufus said...
Awful film!. It looked like a cheap (or expensive) pamphlet for everything including "actors". There was no Alexander the Great anywhere. Our times have nothing to do with heroism.
Retro Friday : Canadian PEPLUM stars
SAMSON AGAINST THE SHEIK - Fight!
Celebs and their Roman costumes
Different Titles : THE NORMANS
Retro Friday : Location - Castello Orsini-Odescalc...
Identify this movie!
RIP : José Greci


text:
Father of 'Affluenza' Teen Arrested For Impersonating a Cop
Isha Aran
Remember Ethan Couch? The teen who avoided prison after killing four people while driving under the influence because he suffered from "affluenza," the terrible condition of being too privileged? Well his father may suffer from a similar condition—he was busted last month for impersonating a cop.
On July 28, police received a call regarding a disturbance between two neighbors in North Richland Hills in Texas. When they rolled up to the scene, they came upon Fred Couch, father of Ethan, who repeatedly claimed he was a reserve police officer and mentioned that he left his "police stuff" in his car. Yes, his "police stuff." He may as well have said "cop thingies" or "fuzz toys." Via Raw Story:
"He kept putting his hands in his pocket, and that has a tendency to make officers nervous [because] they don't know what your intensions are," said Keith Bauman, of North Richland Hills police.
He flashed a wallet containing what appeared to be a police badge and identification card, and police allowed Couch to leave.
But one of the responding officers had previously worked for Lakeside police, and he said the badge did not look legitimate and began investigating his claims.
It didn't take long to discover that Fred Couch – who left this Police Stuff in the car – was not and had never been a licensed officer. He was subsequently charged with false identification as a police officer and has been released on $2,500 bond. Way to go, Fred. Also, my deepest sympathies for your devastating diagnosis of po-polio. It should probably be noted that Couch has been busted for several other crimes including theft, evading arrest, alleged assault, and a whole load of driving citations, but he's a millionaire, so whatever.
Also, just a reminder. A white teen kills four people and gets rehab. A black teen walks in the middle of the street, having stolen a few cigarillos,* and is shot to death. Affluenza is real, and it is truly a life-threatening disease.
*Oh wait, the cigarillo thing was a ridiculous and shameless attempt at taking down Mike Brown's character. Fuck that.
Image via KDFW.
Global Beet
"Remember Ethan Couch? The teen who avoided prison after killing four people while driving under the influence because he suffered from "affluenza," the terrible condition of being too privileged?"
Mother...of...god.......................................................................................
A black kid is murdered for jay walking and..............................to hell with it, nothing matters.


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JW Plumbing & Heating is a family business in Montreal, QC. JW's website had been outsourced to multiple agencies, and was riddled with consistency issues in both content and design. We delivered a website that is structured by semantic HTML (to improve its search engine performance), consistent design, and custom content management that has placed JW's team back in control of their website.
They used to run a separate mobile website for small screens, but with responsive design we eliminated the need for a separate mobile service.
Because they operate in the Montreal area, users can switch easily between English and French, and the website's administrators can handle both languages' content all in one place.
We also put in place a simple method of payment allowing customers to pay invoices online through PayPal.
A project's workload always feels extra worthwhile when it involves liberating people from a hateful admin experience!


Ep 139: See photos of Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis in the Bravo Clubhouse with Andy Cohen!
Part I: Actress Alison Brie tells a WWHL caller what it was like working with actor Will Ferrell in "Get Hard" and actor Jason Sudeikis chimes in with his own praises for Will.
Actress Alison Brie tells a WWHL caller what her "Mad Men" character Trudy Campbell's Housewives tagline would be if Trudy were a Real Housewife.
In a segment called "Name The Campaign!" actor Jason Sudeikis makes up campaign slogans for current presidential candidates such as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Actor and former SNL castmember Jason Sudeikis tells Andy Cohen what SNL sketch made him laugh the hardest and why he thinks Blake Lively did a better job at it than Taylor Swift.
Actor Jason Sudeikis tells Andy Cohen why he doesn't use Twitter even though he has an account and shares the origin of his account.
Part II: Andy Cohen asks "Sleeping With Other People" co-stars Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis to share their craziest dating horror stories.


I've been away for several years from blogging world. Now I have new job responsibilites but still focusing on Data Center Technology. I've been trying to increase my studying for the VMware VCAP-DCA. I have my working laptop installed with Windows 7 64-bit with 8GB RAM to have vSphere running inside of it.
One of the recommended course for VCAP-DCA exam preparation is VMware vSphere: Automation with vSphere PowerCLI [V4.x].
To have some idea about the PowerCLI course, you can visit Niklas Akerlund's blog.


text:
Unterbergern ist eine Ortschaft und Katastralgemeinde in der Gemeinde Bergern im Dunkelsteinerwald in Niederösterreich.

Geographie
Unterbergern ist Hauptort der Gemeinde und befindet sich östlich von Oberbergern an der nach Mautern führenden Landesstraße L109. Am  zählte die Ortschaft  Einwohner. Im Franziszeischen Kataster von 1821 ist Unterbergern als Haufendorf mit zahlreichen Gehöften verzeichnet.

Geschichte
Laut Adressbuch von Österreich waren im Jahr 1938 in der Ortsgemeinde Unterbergern ein Bäcker, ein Fleischer, drei Gastwirte, drei Gemischtwarenhändler, eine Milchgenossenschaft, ein Schmied, ein Schneider und zwei Schneiderinnen, zwei Schuster, zwei mechanische Strickereien, ein Tischler und einige Landwirte ansässig.

Kultur und Sehenswürdigkeiten

 Die Pfarrkirche hl. Johannes Nepomuk ist eine schlichte josephinische Saalkirche in der Ortsmitte, die 1766 als Kapelle errichtet und nach der Pfarrerhebung von 1784 bis 1785 von Johann Schwerdtfeger vergrößert wurde. 1868 wurde der Turm um ein Schallgeschoß erhöht und erhielt einen neuen Turmhelm.
 Ehemaliger Pfarrhof

Literatur

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Bergern im Dunkelsteinerwald
Ort im Bezirk Krems-Land
Katastralgemeinde im Bezirk Krems-Land
Ehemalige Gemeinde in Niederösterreich

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
#ifndef FREERTOS_CONFIG_H
#define FREERTOS_CONFIG_H

/*-----------------------------------------------------------
 * Application specific definitions.
 *
 * These definitions should be adjusted for your particular hardware and
 * application requirements.
 *
 * THESE PARAMETERS ARE DESCRIBED WITHIN THE 'CONFIGURATION' SECTION OF THE
 * FreeRTOS API DOCUMENTATION AVAILABLE ON THE FreeRTOS.org WEB SITE.
 *----------------------------------------------------------*/

#include <project.h>

#define configUSE_PREEMPTION		1
#define configUSE_IDLE_HOOK			0
#define configMAX_PRIORITIES		( 5 )
#define configUSE_TICK_HOOK			0
#define configCPU_CLOCK_HZ			( ( unsigned long ) BCLK__BUS_CLK__HZ )
#define configTICK_RATE_HZ			( ( TickType_t ) 1000 )
#define configMINIMAL_STACK_SIZE	( ( unsigned short ) 128 )
#define configTOTAL_HEAP_SIZE		( ( size_t ) ( 48*1024 ) )
#define configMAX_TASK_NAME_LEN		( 12 )
#define configUSE_TRACE_FACILITY	0
#define configUSE_16_BIT_TICKS		0
#define configIDLE_SHOULD_YIELD		0
#define configUSE_CO_ROUTINES 		0
#define configUSE_MUTEXES			1

#define configMAX_CO_ROUTINE_PRIORITIES ( 2 )

#define configUSE_COUNTING_SEMAPHORES 	1
#define configUSE_ALTERNATIVE_API 		0
#define configCHECK_FOR_STACK_OVERFLOW	2
#define configUSE_RECURSIVE_MUTEXES		1
#define configQUEUE_REGISTRY_SIZE		10
#define configGENERATE_RUN_TIME_STATS	0
#define configUSE_MALLOC_FAILED_HOOK	1

/* Set the following definitions to 1 to include the API function, or zero
to exclude the API function. */

#define INCLUDE_vTaskPrioritySet			1
#define INCLUDE_uxTaskPriorityGet			1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskDelete					1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskCleanUpResources		0
#define INCLUDE_vTaskSuspend				1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskDelayUntil				1
#define INCLUDE_vTaskDelay					1
#define INCLUDE_uxTaskGetStackHighWaterMark	1
#define INCLUDE_eTaskGetState				1

/**
 * Configure the number of priority bits. This is normally
 * __NVIC_PRIO_BITS but PSoC Creator beta 5 contained a larger
 * value for the priority than is implemented in the hardware so
 * set it here to what the data sheet describes.
 */
#define configPRIO_BITS       3        /* 8 priority levels */

/* The lowest priority. */
#define configKERNEL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY 	( 7 << (8 - configPRIO_BITS) )

/* Priority 5, or 160 as only the top three bits are implemented. */
/* !!!! configMAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY must not be set to zero !!!!
See http://www.FreeRTOS.org/RTOS-Cortex-M3-M4.html. */
#define configMAX_SYSCALL_INTERRUPT_PRIORITY 	( 5 << (8 - configPRIO_BITS) )

#endif /* FREERTOS_CONFIG_H */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I wont reveal too much information because you NEED to take the tour yourself to find out, but I give you a taster of our taster and say that we met at the iconic Spitalfields Market.
We began with possibly the best bacon sandwich in London at St John Bread and Wine. See if you can guess the ingredient in the sauce.
Our second stop was for bread and butter pudding at The English Restaurant.
There's always time for cheese, especially if it's at Androuet.
A eating-walking tour of London wouldn't be the same without a stop off at the best independent fish and chips shop in the UK, Poppies.
Or a quick pint, at The Pride of Spitalfields.
Before heading off down Brick Lane to admire street art and sample Indian curry.
Our exploration ended at Pizza East with a rather fitting dessert.
Take a look inside these new bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs in London and start compiling your next 'to-do' list. Read more about this list. Written and compiled by Christian Rose-Day.


A couple of months ago, JP and I decided to make an attempt at starting a small group for adults in their 20's-40's from church.
The Protestant churches we came from were really good at connecting people via small groups. Everyone we knew at the church we were at just prior to becoming Catholic was in one. The groups met weekly, in people's homes. And it was just a nice way to get connected in our faith, make friends, and do some life together.
We found there wasn't anything like that at our Catholic parish. There were programs that would probably best fit people who were older, or who didn't have young kids at home, or programs for youth. We felt our age range was underserved, and decided to do something about it.
A huge barrier for people in our phase of life is the fact that many of us have young children. It's tricky to focus when there are littles running amuk, so we knew we would have to do something to remove that barrier. Hence, we found babysitters.
We also knew food and drink would be an extra enticement to get people to show up. We offered beer, wine, and snacks to help set up an atmosphere of hospitality and fellowship.
Our initial plan was to host the small group weekly in our home. We don't have a huge house, but we figured it would start small since it was such a new concept.
Well, much to our surprise the interest exceeded the size of our living room! Which was great news, but we really wanted to be able to follow through on our promises of a babysitter, and still maintain the small group structure, so we had to make a slight adjustment to our original plans.
We were able to meet in the St. Lucy school cafeteria, while the kids played with the babysitters in the gym. We split up into two groups for discussion, and spent some time getting to know each other, with plans to start the official study next week.
And… it went really well!
JP and I tried to plan very thoroughly to make this first meeting a success. The only hiccup came towards the end of our discussion time when the fire alarm went rogue and sounded off, forcing us all into a foyer-type area to wrap up kind of early, and in an odd way. Fire alarms weren't, unsurprisingly, a contingency we planned for. 🙂 But it seemed like everyone took it in good humor, and one couple had brought ice cream cups for the kids, which we then used, and which helped keep them busy and happy.
When all is said and done, it looks like we'll have between 18-20 adults in this first round. We will be doing a Bible Study called Lectio Eucharist, from the website Formed. It's a high quality study with great discussion questions and excellent content. We hopt it will help us all grow in our faith and understanding of Holy Communion, and that we'll be able to develop lasting friendships within the group.
Down the line, we would still very much love to have this group split up into people's homes, and then offer common fun events where everyone could get together. But, for this first time through, I think it's good that we are able to model the feel and structure of a small group, even though we need a larger meeting place to do it.
We are praying for everyone to feel welcome, and for potential home hosts to develop over the course of this first study. And we are so thankful for the opportunity to fill a need in our parish, and to connect some of us 20's-40's folks together in a meaningful way.
What about you? How have you been able to connect to people at your church/parish? What are the challenges to connecting with others in your particular phase of life?
Next ›Isn't Being Catholic Repetitive and Boring?
So cool Lorelei. Way to be a mover and shaker!
Good story! Where is your parish located? Thanks for sharing!


The goal of the Cedarville University School of Nursing, located in Ohio, is to prepare excellent professionals to use nursing as a ministry for Jesus Christ. Graduates of our Bachelor of Science in Nursing program deliver care from a knowledge base grounded in the Bible, the art and sciences of nursing, the biological and behavioral sciences, and the humanities. Building on that foundation, our Master of Science in Nursing programs with areas of focus in Family Nurse Practitioner, Global Public Health Nursing, and Nurse Educator provide in-depth, professional, and advanced practice study. Two graduate certificates are also available in Global Public Health Nursing and Nursing Education. At our highly regarded nursing school, students enter programs that are much more than simply learning information and practicing skills. You will also see how your relationship with God directly influences the nursing care you provide.
The faculty of the School of Nursing supports the mission of Cedarville University and the profession of nursing by offering a biblically based baccalaureate nursing program that emphasizes godly living as a foundation for nursing practice grounded in biblical truth.
Cedarville nursing students spent spring break sharing the love of Christ and offering medical care as part of a CUGO trip to Nicaragua.
Assistant Professor of Nursing, Pete Savard, discusses Global Water Consortium and paddling 444 miles down the Susquehanna river this summer.
Academic Recognition for the School of Nursing will be held in the Dixon Ministry Center Chapel on Friday, May 3 at 10 a.m. A reception will follow the ceremony at 11:30 am.


text:
A pumpjack on the prairie.
(Photo by ImagineGolf, iStock)
Oil and gas commission approves sweeping rule changes
By Dennis Huspeni special to Colorado Politics
After more than three months of listening to hours of testimony, poring over thousands of documents and debating for hundreds of hours, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Monday approved sweeping rule changes governing the state's natural resources industry.
Commissioners repeatedly used the word "unbiased" to describe their deliberations and subsequent set of rules, despite accusations from some industry officials and conservative lawmakers the new restrictive rules could cripple the state's oil and gas production industry.
"This commission completed the Herculean shift from 'fostering' the industry to creating unbiased rules regulating the industry to protect the health, safety and welfare of our state and its residents," said commissioner John Messner. "It will also maintain a successful oil and gas industry, which is an important workforce driver in Colorado. I'm convinced we've created the framework for that to happen."
Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the final rule changes, a fact commissioner Jeff Robbins pointed out repeatedly in his comments and in a press conference following the final vote Monday. The new rules take effect Jan. 15.
NEW GROUND RULES | The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission sets out to overhaul regulation
All commissioners talked about the difficulty of creating the new rules via Zoom meetings during a pandemic caused by COVID-19. If anything, the pandemic might have drawn more participation as the public and 90-plus stakeholders were better able to participate, Robbins said.
"It created broader access to the commission," Robbins said.
The new framework provides "environmental justice" for those communities that otherwise might not have had input, creates more transparency, establishes several exceptions to the strict new 2,000-foot setback rule and will give operators more certainty about the process, Robbins said.
The setback rule, which was a change from the previous 500-foot buffer zone, faced the most criticism and dispute in the industry. But the commission also created exceptions to the new setback rules.
"The commission didn't create those off ramps for operators not to use them," Robbins said.
The offramps essentially create exceptions: the well is already within an approved comprehensive drilling plan or area plan; equipment with greatest noise and emissions be more than 2,000 feet; if the commission finds after a public hearing the operator has taken "substantially equivalent" protections for health and safety; or the property owner or tenant has signed a special waiver.
The new rules will apply to all existing and pending permits, which is estimated at 5,000. All will have to be re-filed under the new rules.
COGCC Director Julie Murphy estimated commissioners worked about 181 hours on the rule changes – and the irony of that number was not lost on her.
Senate Bill 19-181, created by the Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature and Gov. Jared Polis in 2019, established the new COGCC as a seven-member group with five full-time paid professionals and two non-voting members from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. With chairman Robbins, the voting commission members include: Bill Gonzales, Karin McGowan, Priya Nanjappa and John Messner.
"This was no small feat," Murphy said. "Our journey continues now with implementing the rules. … To Colorado, thank you. So many of us poured ourselves into this process. Through your work, we have rules that implement 181 with the same nuance and complexity appropriate for the Colorado that we know, love and want to preserve for our children's children."
Reaction came quickly from industry and conservation groups.
"Colorado now undoubtedly has the toughest oil and natural gas development regulations in the country, which further protect the environment and ensure that the molecules of energy produced here locally are cleaner than most anywhere in the world," Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said in a press release. "We have full confidence that operators will show how future development will be protective of public health and safety, and we're hopeful the commissioners' judgement will be based on what is necessary and reasonable, rather than the precautionary principle alone."
Conservation Colorado applauded the new setback rules, "comprehensive protections for Colorado's wildlife and habitat," the ban on "routine venting and flaring" and the increased protections for water supplies.
"Colorado is once again a national leader in protecting public health and safety thanks to today's new oil and gas rules," Kelly Nordini, executive director, said in a press release. "Thank you to Governor Polis, the Department of Natural Resources and the COGCC for making the vision of putting public health and safety ahead of oil and gas industry profits into concrete policy."
Others said it will be crucial for the COGCC to address and mitigate any unintended consequences the new rules create, especially potentially adverse economic impacts to the industry.
"While Colorado's natural gas and oil industry is nothing if not resilient, it is critical that we have a seat at the table as guidance is developed and the rules are put into practice," Colorado American Petroleum Institute Executive Director Lynn Granger said in a release. "Due to the lack of conversation around economic impacts throughout this process, it is equally important for the commission to honor their pledge to address any unintended consequences should they come up."
Reaction to COGCC vote shows almost nobody is happy
Report: 2,000-foot setback rule could be disastrous for Denver's real estate market
By Hannah Metzger The Denver Gazette
Colorado oil and gas regulators mistakenly send insulting message to companies
Joey Bunch, Colorado Politics
Boulder County commissioners set to consider draft oil and gas regulations
Upon review, the planning commission recommended several changes to the latest draft, including extending the time for existing operators to submit registration materials, clarifying the necessary wildlife reports and surveys that are required, and revising the language on ambient noise levels for oil and gas operations.
OUT WEST ROUNDUP | Mysterious monolith found in Utah desert; New Mexico wary of oil downturn
OUT WEST ROUNDUP | Feds propose drilling in rare lizard's habitat; Wyoming faces brutal budget cuts
ANALYSIS | Sen. Hickenlooper could be key player in Colorado's Space Command fight | Tom Roeder
Report: Trump considering pardon for Steve Bannon over 'We Build the Wall' fundraiser