Short for predictive frame, or predicted frame, a videocompression method used by the MPEG standard. In a motion sequence, individual frames of pictures are grouped together (called a group of pictures, or GOP) and played back so that the viewer registers the video’s spatial motion. P-frames follow I-frames and contain only the data that have changed from the preceding I-frame (such as color or content changes). Because of this, P-frames depend on the I-frames to fill in most of the data.
P-frames and B-frames are also referred to as delta frames.
