A method for compressing and decompressing video image data, wherein the contours of image structures are determined in a basic analysis of the video data contained in a video image by means of sudden modifications of brightness and/or tristimulus value in adjacent pixels; the contours thus found are respectively described in segments by means of a parameterized mathematical function and are defined as objects; a color dominance and a color characteristic is determined for the individual objects, in addition to the position and extension of the individual objects and a structural function, such that differential modifications in brightness, size, position and orientation of said objects are determined in sequential analyses of video images, taking into account common contours of contiguous objects. The objects thus defined are placed in a structured base frame or sequential frame and are prepared. Contour analysis and structural analysis is carried out by means of neuronal networks.