What is "macroblock"

n. 1 (context signal processing video compression English) A block of adjacent pixels, typically a rectangular 16×16 block 2 (context archaeology English) An area of a dig where there are multiple adjacent block excavations

Macroblock is a processing unit in image and video compression formats based on linear block transforms, such as the discrete cosine transform (DCT). A macroblock typically consists of 16×16 samples, and is further subdivided into transform blocks, and may be further subdivided into prediction blocks. Formats which are based on macroblocks include JPEG, where they are called MCU blocks, H.261, MPEG-1 Part 2, H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2, H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2, and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. In H.265/HEVC, the macroblock as a basic processing unit has been replaced by the coding tree unit.