Codec fingerprint
Definition
The characteristic pattern of encoding decisions made by a camera's firmware when compressing video: the specific H.264 or H.265 profile and level, GOP structure, quantisation matrix, and entropy coding mode. Different manufacturers and firmware versions produce recognisably different patterns even when implementing the same codec standard.
Related terms
- Bitrate profile
- The pattern of bitrate variation across time in a variable-bitrate recording. A camera's rate-control algorithm allocates more bits to complex scenes and...
- Colour pipeline
- The sequence of transformations applied to raw sensor data to produce the encoded video signal, including white balance, gamma curve, colour space...
- GOP (Group of Pictures) structure
- The pattern of I-frames, P-frames, and B-frames in a compressed video stream. Different cameras use different GOP lengths and frame-type ratios, which...
- PRNU (Photo Response Non-Uniformity)
- The unique pattern of pixel-level sensitivity variations in a camera sensor, used as a device fingerprint. A genuine camera-original image carries the...
- Reference profile
- A database of known parameter values built from recordings made with the suspect device under controlled conditions. Comparison of the questioned video...
Explained in
- Matching Video to a Source CameraThe characteristic pattern of encoding decisions made by a camera's firmware when compressing video: the specific H.264 or H.265 profile and level, GOP structu...