Low-complexity quantization for H.264/AVC

In this paper, an improved quantization technology with low-complexity is presented for H.264/AVC video codec. Multiplication factors of H.264/AVC quantizer are modified. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the bit width of the quantization and substitute large bit-width multiplier by some small bit-width adders without noticeable rate-distortion degradation in integrated circuits (ICs) design. Quantization error introduced by the modified multiplication factors is not only theoretically but also experimentally analyzed. Quantizer is optimized on register transfer level of IC design, and under the same cell CMOS technology, about 75.2% area and 76.3% dynamic power consumption are saved in each quantization unit on average compared with original H.264/AVC quantization. Experimental video coding results show that the Bjontegaard delta peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and Bjontegaard delta bit rate between the improved and original H.264/AVC quantization are very slight, which means that the improved quantization scheme is approximately the same as the original quantization scheme of H.264/AVC in rate-distortion performance.

Gangyi JiangEmail: