Nishi Compare -- Frontier Radar: Video Codec Engine

Where the 2025/26 research frontier is moving, and where Nishi should test, deepen, or research next.

How this works. The nishi researcher banked the current (2024-2026) frontier for this domain over sovereign TLS (keyless OpenAlex/arXiv). For each capability axis this radar measures frontier momentum = how often the frontier corpus mentions it, times our organ presence (probed on disk). Absent + hot = a research opportunity / where to test. Corpus measured: 4194304 bytes. Generated by nx_swcompare_gapmap over a data-only domain spec (videocodec.q + videocodec.axes) — zero domain-specific code.

Top research opportunities (the 2025/26 frontier is active here and Nishi has no organ yet):

Perceptual / generative coding — frontier momentum 108
End-to-end neural codec (DCVC-class) — frontier momentum 31
Learned entropy model (hyperprior) — frontier momentum 26
CDEF constrained directional enhancement — frontier momentum 10
Adaptive loop filter (ALF) — frontier momentum 3
Loop restoration (Wiener / self-guided) — frontier momentum 3
Implicit neural representation (INR) — frontier momentum 3
Film grain synthesis — frontier momentum 3

Capability axis	Nishi organ	Frontier momentum (2025/26)	Signal
Perceptual / generative coding	absent	108 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Integer DCT transform (4x4 + 8x8)	present	65 mentions	COVERED
End-to-end neural codec (DCVC-class)	absent	31 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Learned entropy model (hyperprior)	absent	26 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Arithmetic/range entropy coder	present	23 mentions	COVERED
Trained neural restoration post-filter	present	18 mentions	COVERED
Quarter-pel motion compensation	present	14 mentions	COVERED
Per-MB variable transform size	present	12 mentions	COVERED
CDEF constrained directional enhancement	absent	10 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
In-loop deblocking filter	present	6 mentions	COVERED
Adaptive loop filter (ALF)	absent	3 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Loop restoration (Wiener / self-guided)	absent	3 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Implicit neural representation (INR)	absent	3 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Film grain synthesis	absent	3 mentions	OPPORTUNITY
Affine and overlapped-block motion	absent	0 mentions	dormant
Larger transforms (16x16 / 32x32)	absent	0 mentions	dormant
CAVLC entropy coder	present	0 mentions	COVERED
Learned rate-distortion optimization	absent	0 mentions	dormant
Sample adaptive offset (SAO)	absent	0 mentions	dormant
Adaptive quantization	present	0 mentions	COVERED
Rich intra prediction (9-mode MPM)	present	0 mentions	COVERED

frontier momentum is a mechanical keyword count over real 2024-2026 works; our presence is probed on disk. A discovery signal, not a ranking of importance. Zero JS, zero trackers.

Frontier Radar — Video Codec Engine