P frames

One of the three types of frames used in the coded MPEG-2 signal. These contain only predictive information (not a whole picture) generated by looking at the difference between the present frame and the previous one. They contain much less data than the I frames and so help towards the low data rates that can be achieved with the MPEG signal. To see the original picture corresponding to a P frame a whole MPEG-2 GoP has to be decoded. See also: B frames, I frames and MPEG.