Abstract: Video telephone apparatus for transmitting video information over a limited bandwidth communications channel includes a source of video frames which are compressed to reduce the amount of redundant information, and to reduce the level of detail according to a user-selected control signal. The video frames are presented to the compressor at a rate which is varied in order to maintain a constant rate data signal at the compressor's output. As the level of detail is decreased the frame rate is correspondingly increased, thus providing the user with the ability to trade off between image clarity and smoothness of motion. Such tradeoffs are useful when the bandwidth of the communications channel is severely constrained. The control signal is transmitted to the video telephone apparatus from a far-end video telephone over the same channel.