RD-Optimization for MPEG-2 to H.264 Transcoding

In this paper, we introduce and evaluate a low complexity macroblock partition mode decision algorithm for inter-frame prediction in MPEG-2 to H.264 transcoder. The proposed tools are used to compute an optimal MB coding mode decision with significantly reduced computational complexity. Specifically, we achieve the computational savings by using the following MB information coming from MPEG-2: the MB coding modes, the coded block pattern (CBPC) in MPEG-2, and the mean and variance of the 16 4times4 sub blocks of the MPEG-2 residual MBs. We use data mining algorithms to develop a decision tree for H.264 coding mode decisions. The decision trees are built using RD optimized mode decisions and result in highly efficient mode decisions. The proposed transcoder is 35% faster than the RD optimized H.264 reference transcoder without a significant PSNR degradation. The proposed transcoder performs over 3 dB better than the SAE cost based H.264 transcoding

[1]  Pedro Cuenca,et al.  Computational Complexity Reduction of Intra-Frame Prediction in MPEG-2/H. 264 Video Transcoders , 2005, 2005 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo.

[2]  H. Kalva,et al.  DCT domain intra MB mode decision for MPEG-2 to H.264 transcoding , 2006, 2006 Digest of Technical Papers International Conference on Consumer Electronics.

[3]  Zhi Zhou,et al.  Motion information and coding mode reuse for MPEG-2 to H.264 transcoding , 2005, 2005 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[4]  Anthony Vetro,et al.  Efficient MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC intra transcoding in transform-domain , 2005, 2005 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[5]  J. Ross Quinlan,et al.  C4.5: Programs for Machine Learning , 1992 .

[6]  Yung-Lyul Lee,et al.  MPEG-4 to H.264 Transcoding , 2005, TENCON 2005 - 2005 IEEE Region 10 Conference.

[7]  Yongdong Zhang,et al.  Efficient block size selection for MPEG-2 to H.264 transcoding , 2004, MULTIMEDIA '04.