Reduced‐Resolution Intra Block Coding Mode

In this letter, a new intra‐block coding mode is presented to improve the coding efficiency for band‐limited signals. A band‐limited block is sub‐sampled, and the sub‐sampled signal is coded on the basis of the conventional prediction/transform coding. The rest of the samples are reconstructed by interpolation at the decoder side without any side information. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves coding gains of 2.7% for common intermediate format (CIF), 4.29% for quarter CIF, and 6.39% for 720p60 sequences against the H.264/AVC JM10.2 reference software.     

Intra‐Mixture Prediction Mode and Enhanced Most Probable Mode Estimation for Intra Coding

We present intra‐mixture prediction (IMP) mode for intra prediction and an enhanced estimation method for most probable mode (MPM). IMP mode supports more flexibility in intra prediction by mixing 4…4 blocks and 8…8 blocks in one macroblock, while the enhanced MPM estimation extends the number of referenced neighboring blocks and efficiently uses their prediction modes depending on their positions. Simulation results show that the combination of both proposed methods provides a bit reduction in the Bjøntegaard delta bitrate by an average of 2.56% compared to H.264/AVC.     

Adaptive Scanning for H.264/AVC Intra Coding

In this letter, an adaptive scanning that improves intra coding efficiency in the H.264/AVC standard is proposed. The proposed adaptive scanning utilizes the prediction directions (modes) that include the horizontal and vertical edge information in a block. Depending on the prediction directions, the proposed method uses three scanning methods: zigzag scanning, horizontal scanning, and vertical scanning. In the proposed method, horizontal and vertical scanning are used in vertical and horizontal prediction modes, respectively, and the normal zigzag scanning in the H.264 standard is used in all other intra prediction modes. The proposed method reduces the bit rate by approximately 2.5% compared with H.264/AVC, without the degradation of video quality.     

Highly Efficient Video Codec for Entertainment‐Quality

We present a novel video codec for supporting entertainment‐quality video. It has new coding tools such as an intra prediction with offset, integer sine transform, and enhanced block‐based adaptive loop filter. These tools are used adaptively in the processing of intra prediction, transform, and loop filtering. In our experiments, the proposed codec achieved an average reduction of 13.35% in BD‐rate relative to H.264/AVC for 720p sequences.     

一种基于H.264/AVC压缩域的GOP级视频场景转换检测算法

本文提出了一种基于H.264/AVC压缩域的GOP(Group of Pictures)级视频场景转换检测算法.该算法利用H.264/AVC基本档次码流中的帧内预测模式、运动矢量和宏块编码类型等可用信息,提出了基于子块的色度模式差异、累积运动值和累积帧内宏块数等三个判决准则,然后综合利用这三个判决准则,提出了一种GOP级的视频场景转换检测算法.实验结果表明,与现有的一个COP级场景检测算法对比,本文提出的GOP级视频场景转换检测算法可以获得更好的检测性能.     

基于多方向自适应加权的空间错误隐藏算法

为了提高H.264/AVC压缩视频码流在无线信道传输过程中的抗误码性能,提出了一种基于多方向自适应加权的空间错误隐藏算法.该算法首先应用边缘算子检测受损宏块的相邻宏块信息,然后通过多方向自适应加权插值得到受损宏块像素近似值.实验表明,该算法相对传统空间错误隐藏算法,对于不同视频序列图像重构质量有很大的改善,具有较高的应用价值.     

基于H.264/AVC的视频信息隐藏算法

在H.264/AVC的帧内预测环节,调制H.264/AVC编码中I帧4×4亮度块的帧内预测模式实现信息隐藏.这种调制基于该模式与待隐藏比特之间的映射规则进行.宿主4×4块的具体位置由各块自身特点结合密钥所指定的嵌入位置模板确定.信息的提取过程不需要原始视频内容,也不需完全解码,而只要对码流中的帧内预测模式进行解码即可.     

General Architecture for MPEG-2/H.263/H.264/AVC to H.264/AVC Intra Frame Transcoding

The latest international video-coding standard H.264/AVC significantly achieves better coding performance compared to prior video coding standards such as MPEG-2 and H.263, which have been widely used in today’s digital video applications. To provide the interoperability between different coding standards, this paper proposes an efficient architecture for MPEG-2/H.263/H.264/AVC to H.264/AVC intra frame transcoding, using the original information such as discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients and coded mode type. Low-frequency components of DCT coefficients and a novel rate distortion cost function are used to select a set of candidate modes for rate distortion optimization (RDO) decision. For H.263 and H.264/AVC, a mode refinement scheme is utilized to eliminate unlikely modes before RDO mode decision, based on coded mode information. The experimental results, conducted on JM12.2 with fast C8MB mode decision, reveal that average 58%, 59% and 60% of computation (re-encoding) time can be saved for MPEG-2, H.263, H.264/AVC to H.264/AVC intra frame transcodings respectively, while preserving good coding performance when compared with complex cascaded pixel domain transcoding (CCPDT); or average 88% (a speed up factor of 8) when compared with CCPDT without considering fast C8MB. The proposed algorithm for H.264/AVC homogeneous transcoding is also compared to the simple cascaded pixel domain transcoding (with original mode reuse). The results of this comparison indicate that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the mode reuse algorithm in coding performance, with only slightly higher computation.     

An improved fast mode decision algorithm for intraprediction in H.264/AVC video coding

In this article, an improved version of one of the most cited intra mode decision algorithms in H.264/AVC video coding is proposed with the aim to improve its efficiency and performance. The reference algorithm determines the interpolation/extrapolation spatial direction (mode) for achieving the best intra prediction using the Sobel gradient calculation. The proposed algorithm suggests reducing the number of gradients calculated and changing the Sobel operator to that of Roberts. In addition to this, it also proposes including the previously encoded neighboring block modes among the evaluated modes. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the computational load of the original algorithm and substantially improves its rate-distortion performance.     

Improved lossless intra coding for H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.

A new lossless intra coding method based on sample-by-sample differential pulse code modulation (DPCM) is presented as an enhancement of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. The H.264/AVC design includes a multidirectional spatial prediction method to reduce spatial redundancy by using neighboring samples as a prediction for the samples in a block of data to be encoded. In the new lossless intra coding method, the spatial prediction is performed based on samplewise DPCM instead of in the block-based manner used in the current H.264/AVC standard, while the block structure is retained for the residual difference entropy coding process. We show that the new method, based on samplewise DPCM, does not have a major complexity penalty, despite its apparent pipeline dependencies. Experiments show that the new lossless intra coding method reduces the bit rate by approximately 12% in comparison with the lossless intra coding method previously included in the H.264/AVC standard. As a result, the new method is currently being adopted into the H.264/AVC standard in a new enhancement project.     

Enhanced Inter Mode Decision Based on Contextual Prediction for P‐Slices in H.264/AVC Video Coding

We propose a fast macroblock mode prediction and decision algorithm based on contextual information for P‐slices in the H.264/AVC video standard, in which the mode prediction part is composed of intra and inter modes. There are nine 4×4 and four 16×16 modes in the intra mode prediction, and seven block types exist for the best coding gain based on rate‐distortion optimization. This scheme gives rise to exhaustive computations (search) in the coding procedure. To overcome this problem, a fast inter mode prediction scheme is applied that uses contextual mode information for P‐slices. We verify the performance of the proposed scheme through a comparative analysis of experimental results. The suggested mode search procedure increased more than 57% in speed compared to a full mode search and more than 20% compared to the other methods.     

Implicit Line-Based Intra 16×16 Prediction for H.264/AVC High-Quality Video Coding

In this paper, we propose an implicit line-based linear intra 16×16 prediction method for high-quality video coding. Typically, in H.264/AVC intra 16×16 vertical and horizontal prediction modes, 256 pixels in the current macroblock are predicted using 16 adjacent boundary pixels of reconstructed neighboring macroblocks. One problem of such a block-based intra prediction is that the prediction error increases as the distance between the reference and current pixels increases. Thus, the prediction accuracy of intra 16×16 vertical and horizontal modes is not sufficient for the mode decision stage. To ensure that the pixels are close to their predictor, we propose a new implicit intra prediction scheme, which makes full use of the correlation between lines instead of blocks. In the proposed method, we perform prediction, transformation, quantization, and reconstruction using the line-of-pixels (LOP) to improve the prediction accuracy. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm provides an approximately 6.42?% bit-rate reduction compared to the H.264/AVC FRExt high profile, while maintaining the same decoding quality.     

Requantization transcoding for H.264/AVC video coding

In this paper, efficient solutions for requantization transcoding in H.264/AVC are presented. By requantizing residual coefficients in the bitstream, different error components can appear in the transcoded video stream. Firstly, a requantization error is present due to successive quantization in encoder and transcoder. In addition to the requantization error, the loss of information caused by coarser quantization will propagate due to dependencies in the bitstream. Because of the use of intra prediction and motion-compensated prediction in H.264/AVC, both spatial and temporal drift propagation arise in transcoded H.264/AVC video streams. The spatial drift in intra-predicted blocks results from mismatches in the surrounding prediction pixels as a consequence of requantization. In this paper, both spatial and temporal drift components are analyzed. As is shown, spatial drift has a determining impact on the visual quality of transcoded video streams in H.264/AVC. In particular, this type of drift results in serious distortion and disturbing artifacts in the transcoded video stream. In order to avoid the spatially propagating distortion, we introduce transcoding architectures based on spatial compensation techniques. By combining the individual temporal and spatial compensation approaches and applying different techniques based on the picture and/or macroblock type, overall architectures are obtained that provide a trade-off between computational complexity and rate-distortion performance. The complexity of the presented architectures is significantly reduced when compared to cascaded decoder–encoder solutions, which are typically used for H.264/AVC transcoding. The reduction in complexity is particularly large for the solution which uses spatial compensation only. When compared to traditional solutions without spatial compensation, both visual and objective quality results are highly improved.     

Mode-Dependent Templates and Scan Order for H.264/AVC-Based Intra Lossless Coding

In H.264/advanced video coding (AVC), lossless coding and lossy coding share the same entropy coding module. However, the entropy coders in the H.264/AVC standard were original designed for lossy video coding and do not yield adequate performance for lossless video coding. In this paper, we analyze the problem with the current lossless coding scheme and propose a mode-dependent template (MD-template) based method for intra lossless coding. By exploring the statistical redundancy of the prediction residual in the H.264/AVC intra prediction modes, more zero coefficients are generated. By designing a new scan order for each MD-template, the scanned coefficients sequence fits the H.264/AVC entropy coders better. A fast implementation algorithm is also designed. With little computation increase, experimental results confirm that the proposed fast algorithm achieves about 7.2% bit saving compared with the current H.264/AVC fidelity range extensions high profile.     

Gravity direction-based ultra-fast intraprediction algorithm for H.264/AVC video coding

The H.264/AVC video coding standard uses in intraprediction, 9 directional modes for 4 × 4 and 8 × 8 luma blocks, and 4 directional modes for 16 × 16 luma macroblocks, and 8 × 8 chroma blocks. The use of the variable block size and multiple modes in intraprediction makes the intracoding of H.264/AVC very efficient compared with other compression standards; however, computational complexity is increased significantly. In this paper, we propose a fast mode selection algorithm for intracoding. This algorithm is based on the vector of the block’s gravity center whose direction is used to select the best candidate prediction mode for intracoding. On this basis, only a small number of intraprediction modes are chosen for rate distortion optimization (RDO) calculation. Different video sequences are used to test the performance of proposed method. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm increases significantly the speed of intracoding with negligible loss of peak signal-to-noise ratio quality.     

Adaptive Pre‐/Post‐Filters for NRT‐Based Stereoscopic Video Coding

Non‐real‐time delivery of stereoscopic video has been considered as a service scenario for 3DTV to overcome the limited bandwidth in the terrestrial digital television system. A hybrid codec combining MPEG‐2 and H.264/AVC has been suggested for the compression of stereoscopic video for 3DTV. In this paper, we propose a stereoscopic video coding scheme using adaptive pre‐/post‐filters (APPF) to improve the quality of 3D video while retaining compatibility with legacy video coding standards. The APPF are applied adaptively to blocks of various sizes determined by the macroblock coding mode and reference frame index. Experiment results show that the proposed method achieves up to 24.86% bit rate savings relative to a hybrid codec of MPEG‐2 and H.264/AVC including the inter‐view prediction.     

A high performance and low complexity sampling-based intra coding method for H.264/AVC

The H.264/AVC video coding standard can achieves higher compression performance than previous video coding standards, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.263. Especially, in order to obtain the high coding performance in intra pictures, the H.264/AVC encoder employs various directional spatial prediction modes and the rate-distortion (RD) optimization technique inducing high computational complexity. For further improvement in the coding performance with the low computational complexity, we introduce a sampling-based intra coding method. The proposed method generates two sub-images, which are defined as a sampled sub-image and a prediction error sub-image in this paper, from an original image through horizontal or vertical sampling and prediction processes, and then each sub-image is encoded with different intra prediction modes, quantization parameters, and scanning patterns. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly improves the intra coding performance and reduces the encoding complexity with the smaller number of the RD cost calculation process.     

Fast Interframe mode decision algorithm based on mode mapping and MB activity for MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC transcoding

Recently the latest video coding standard H.264/AVC is widely used for the mobile and low bitrate video codec in the various multimedia terminals. On the other hand, the MPEG-2 MP@HL codec has become the center of digital video contents since it is the standard codec for the Digital TV (DTV). To provide the bridge between the contents in MPEG-2 and mobile terminals, the transcoding of MPEG-2 contents into H.264/AVC format is an inevitable technology in the digital video market. The main bottleneck in the process lies in the computational complexity. In H.264/AVC, the variable block size (VBS) mode decision (MD) is used in the Interframe for the improved performance in the motion compensated prediction. For the macroblock (MB) which cannot be accurately predicted with one motion vector (MV), it is partitioned into smaller blocks and predicted with different MVs. In addition, SKIP and Intra modes are also permitted in the Interframe MD of H.264/AVC to further ameliorate the encoding performance. With the VBS MD technology, the Inter prediction accuracy can be improved significantly. However, the incidental side-effect is the high computational complexity. In this paper, we propose a fast Interframe MD algorithm for MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC transcoding. The relationships between SKIP and Intra modes are detected at first to map these two kinds of modes directly from MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC. And then the MB activity will be scaled by the residual DCT energy obtained from the MPEG-2 decoding process to estimate the block sizes of the MB mode for H.264/AVC Interframe MD. In our proposed method, the original redundant candidate modes can be eliminated effectively, resulting in the reduction of the computational complexity. It can reduce about 85% Rate-to-Distortion Cost (RDCost) computing and 45% entire processing time compared with the well-known cascaded transcoder while maintaining the video quality.     

Adaptive Prediction Block Filter for Video Coding

In this letter, we propose a new prediction block filter that can reduce errors between the original and prediction blocks. The proposed filter adaptively adjusts filter coefficients by using the previously reconstructed adjacent blocks and their prediction blocks. Then, the filter is selectively applied to the current prediction block according to the rate‐distortion optimization. Moreover, since the same filter coefficients can be derived in the decoder, they are not encoded into the bit‐stream. The proposed method achieves a 4.65% bitrate saving on average compared with H.264/AVC.     

基于块参考像素特征的快速帧内预测模式选择新算法

帧内预测是H.264采用的一种编码新技术。与以前的编码标准相比,H.264编码性能有了很大的提高,但同时编码复杂度和计算量也明显增加。该文研究了提高H.264编码速度的途径,着重分析了帧内预测模式快速选择的问题。经过分析发现,4×4亮度块的参考像素亮度值通常具有相似性,对应地,4×4亮度块的9种预测模式所得的预测结果也是相近的。根据4×4亮度块参考像素的这一特征,该文提出了一种基于4×4亮度块参考像素特征的快速帧内预测模式选择算法。实验结果说明了该文算法的有效性,与H.264编码器JM92相比,该算法的计算量减少了46%,而编码质量、PSNR和输出码率保持基本不变。