Editing MPEG-1 (section)

====D-frames====
MPEG-1 has a unique frame type not found in later video standards. "D-frames" or DC-pictures are independently coded images (intra-frames) that have been encoded using DC transform coefficients only (AC coefficients are removed when encoding D-frames&mdash;see DCT below) and hence are very low quality. D-frames are never referenced by I-, P- or B- frames. D-frames are only used for fast previews of video, for instance when seeking through a video at high speed.<ref name=Didier_MPEG/>

Given moderately higher-performance decoding equipment, fast preview can be accomplished by decoding I-frames instead of D-frames. This provides higher quality previews, since I-frames contain AC coefficients as well as DC coefficients. If the encoder can assume that rapid I-frame decoding capability is available in decoders, it can save bits by not sending D-frames (thus improving compression of the video content). For this reason, D-frames are seldom actually used in MPEG-1 video encoding, and the D-frame feature has not been included in any later video coding standards.