PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

David Bull

Also known as David R. Bull, David Roger Bull, Dave Bull

David Bull is a professor of signal processing at the University of Bristol whose work on video compression combines perceptual models with neural networks. He co-founded the wireless video company ProVision Communication Technologies in 2001, headed Bristol's Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department from 2001 to 2006, and co-founded Bristol Vision Institute in 2008. IEEE named him a Fellow in 2013, and in 2017 his team's ViSTRA codec, which reconstructs resampled video with a neural network, won a prize in the Video Compression Grand Challenge at the ICIP conference in Beijing. In 2020, his team released the BVI-DVC training database for deep video coding and he led the bid for the £46m MyWorld creative technology programme; the second edition of Intelligent Image and Video Compression, written with Fan Zhang, appeared in 2021. Today he is Professor of Signal Processing at Bristol, where he directs Bristol Vision Institute, and in 2026 he coauthored a review of AI for the creative industries.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 2001–2006

    Head of Electrical Engineering at Bristol

    With degrees from Exeter, Manchester and Wales behind him and earlier jobs as a systems engineer at Rolls-Royce and a lecturer at the University of Wales, Cardiff, he serves as Head of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at the University of Bristol from 2001 to 2006.

  2. 2001–2011

    Co-founding ProVision Communication Technologies

    In 2001, he co-founds ProVision Communication Technologies, a company specialising in wireless video communications. He serves as its Director and Chairman until Global Invacom acquires it in 2011.

  3. 2008

    Co-founding Bristol Vision Institute

    He co-founds Bristol Vision Institute in 2008, which brings together some 170 associates from engineering, computer science, psychology, medicine and other fields to study vision. He serves as its Director.

  4. 2013

    An IEEE Fellowship

    He is named an IEEE Fellow in 2013 for contributions in video analysis, compression and communications.

  5. 2017

    ViSTRA and a Google award

    In 2017, a Bristol Vision Institute project with him as lead researcher receives funding through Google's Research Awards program for a coding framework that combines perceptual optimisation with machine learning. In September 2017, the ViSTRA codec he develops with Fan Zhang and Mariana Afonso wins a prize in the Video Compression Grand Challenge at the ICIP conference in Beijing; it pairs perceptually optimised resampling in the encoder with a neural network that reconstructs the output video.

  6. 2020–2021

    BVI-DVC and MyWorld

    In April 2020, his team releases BVI-DVC, a large video database for training deep-learning video coding algorithms that the MPEG JVET AHG11 group on neural network-based video coding identifies as one of its training datasets. In June 2020, he leads the successful bid for MyWorld, a £46m UKRI Strength in Places programme for the creative technologies cluster across Bristol and Bath, which launches in April 2021 under his direction.

  7. April 2021

    Intelligent Image and Video Compression

    With Fan Zhang, he publishes the second edition of Intelligent Image and Video Compression: Communicating Pictures in April 2021. The book explains the design and application of a modern video coding system, using the AVC, HEVC and VVC standards to teach block-based compression.

  8. As of October 2026

    Signal processing chair at Bristol

    He is Professor of Signal Processing in the School of Computer Science at the University of Bristol, holds the Chair in Signal Processing and directs Bristol Vision Institute. In 2026, he coauthors with Nantheera Anantrasirichai and Fan Zhang an updated review in Artificial Intelligence Review of AI technologies for the creative industries, covering generative AI, large language models and diffusion models.

Career

  1. Since 2001University of BristolHead, Director
  2. 2001–2011ProVision Communication TechnologiesDirector and Chairman

From the biography.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Bristol. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Bristol. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Bristol. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Bristol. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of David Bull yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Investigators – Assessment of Sea Surface Signatures for Naval Platforms using SAR Imagery assensar.blogs.bristol.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Professor David Bull - Our People bristol.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Prof David Bull david-bull.github.io. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. April: BVI partner with Google | News and features | University of Bristol bristol.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. 2012: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering | News and features | University of Bristol bristol.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. David Roger Bull - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. October: Bristol Vision Institute | News and features | University of Bristol bristol.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. UWE Bristol to be part of a new multi-million-pound creative hub for the South West | UWE Bristol uwe.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Intelligent Image and Video Compression - 2nd Edition | Elsevier Shop shop.elsevier.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. David R Bull - University of Bristol research-information.bris.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. [2501.02725] Advances in Artificial Intelligence: A Review for the Creative Industries arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.