VIDEO ENTROPY DECODING WITH GRACEFUL DEGRADATION

A system and method are provided for gracefully degrading video quality in a video entropy decoding system. The method comprises: accepting a sequence of coded video frames; measuring the speed at which the video frames are decoded; in response to the decoding speed, varying the degree of data decoded in each macroblock (MB) of a frame; and, supplying decoded video data from every MB in the frame. Though the degree of data decoded in each MB of the frame may vary, predictions from a first MB in a frame can still be used to decode a second MB in the frame. That is, synchronization is maintained between the first and second MB. Varying the degree of data decoded in each MB of the frame includes: decoding a minimal amount of data in each MB in the frame; and, varying the level of decoding performed on each MB in the frame.