Hybrid All Zero Soft Quantized Block Detection for HEVC

Transform and quantization account for a considerable amount of computation time in video encoding process. However, there are a large number of discrete cosine transform coefficients which are finally quantized into zeros. In essence, blocks with all zero quantized coefficients do not transmit any information, but still occupy substantial unnecessary computational resources. As such, detecting all-zero block (AZB) before transform and quantization has been recognized to be an efficient approach to speed up the encoding process. Instead of considering the hard-decision quantization (HDQ) only, in this paper, we incorporate the properties of soft-decision quantization into the AZB detection. In particular, we categorize the AZB blocks into genuine AZBs (G-AZB) and pseudo AZBs (P-AZBs) to distinguish their origins. For G-AZBs directly generated from HDQ, the sum of absolute transformed difference-based approach is adopted for early termination. Regarding the classification of P-AZBs which are generated in the sense of rate-distortion optimization, the rate-distortion models established based on transform coefficients together with the adaptive searching of the maximum transform coefficient are jointly employed for the discrimination. Experimental results show that our algorithm can achieve up to 24.16% transform and quantization time-savings with less than 0.06% RD performance loss. The total encoder time saving is about 5.18% on average with the maximum value up to 9.12%. Moreover, the detection accuracy of larger TU sizes, such as $16\times 16$ and $32\times 32$ can reach to 95% on average.

[1]  Xinfeng Zhang,et al.  Early termination of coding unit splitting for HEVC , 2012, Proceedings of The 2012 Asia Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association Annual Summit and Conference.

[2]  Xiaodong Xie,et al.  Hybrid Zero Block Detection for High Efficiency Video Coding , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia.

[3]  Wen Gao,et al.  Hybrid Laplace Distribution-Based Low Complexity Rate-Distortion Optimized Quantization , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[4]  Zhou Xuan,et al.  Method for detecting all-zero DCT coefficients ahead of discrete cosine transformation and quantisation , 1998 .

[5]  Yong Ho Moon,et al.  An improved early detection algorithm for all-zero blocks in H.264 video encoding , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[6]  Ming-Ting Sun,et al.  Modeling DCT coefficients for fast video encoding , 1999, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol..

[7]  Gary J. Sullivan,et al.  High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Algorithms and Architectures , 2014, Integrated Circuits and Systems.

[8]  Haoshan Shi,et al.  Fast Mode Decision Algorithm for H.264/AVC Based on All-Zero Blocks Predetermination , 2009, 2009 International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation.

[9]  Zhou Xin,et al.  Fast inter prediction block mode decision approach for H.264/AVC based on all-zero blocks detection , 2013, 2013 IEEE 8th Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA).

[10]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Prediction of Zero Quantized DCT Coefficients in H.264/AVC Using Hadamard Transformed Information , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[11]  Qionghai Dai,et al.  Early Determination of Zero-Quantized 8 $\,\times\,$8 DCT Coefficients , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[12]  Wen Gao,et al.  Multi-level low-complexity coefficient discarding scheme for video encoder , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS).

[13]  Oscar C. Au,et al.  Early detection of all-zero 4×4 blocks in High Efficiency Video Coding , 2014, J. Vis. Commun. Image Represent..

[14]  Jo Yew Tham,et al.  An Adaptive Thresholding Technique for the Detection of All-Zeros Blocks in H. 264 , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing.

[15]  Nouri Masmoudi,et al.  Fast coding unit selection and motion estimation algorithm based on early detection of zero block quantified transform coefficients for high-efficiency video coding standard , 2016, IET Image Process..

[16]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Efficient predictive model of zero quantized DCT coefficients for fast video encoding , 2007, Image Vis. Comput..

[17]  F. Bossen,et al.  Common test conditions and software reference configurations , 2010 .

[18]  Homer H. Chen,et al.  Efficient Quantization Based on Rate–Distortion Optimization for Video Coding , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[19]  Jar-Ferr Yang,et al.  Computation reduction for motion search in low rate video coders , 2002, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol..

[20]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Hybrid Model to Detect Zero Quantized DCT Coefficients in H.264 , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia.

[21]  Zulin Wang,et al.  Reducing Complexity of HEVC: A Deep Learning Approach , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[22]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Fast video coding based on Gaussian model of DCT coefficients , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[23]  Yong Liu,et al.  A General Method for Detecting All-Zero Blocks Prior to DCT and Quantization , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[24]  R. Shanmugalakshmi,et al.  Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing , 2006 .

[25]  Hyuk-Jae Lee,et al.  A Novel Algorithm for Zero Block Detection in High Efficiency Video Coding , 2013, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing.

[26]  Tian-Sheuan Chang,et al.  Fast zero block detection and early CU termination for HEVC Video Coding , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS2013).

[27]  Wen Gao,et al.  Video Compression Artifact Reduction via Spatio-Temporal Multi-Hypothesis Prediction , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[28]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Efficient prediction algorithm of integer DCT coefficients for H.264/AVC optimization , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[29]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Effectively Detecting All-Zero DCT Blocks for H.264 Optimization , 2006, 2006 International Conference on Image Processing.

[30]  Wen Gao,et al.  Low-Rank-Based Nonlocal Adaptive Loop Filter for High-Efficiency Video Compression , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[31]  Ajay Luthra,et al.  Overview of the H.264/AVC video coding standard , 2003, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol..

[32]  Huijuan Lu,et al.  A New All-Zero Block Detection Algorithm for High Efficiency Video Coding , 2017, 2017 Data Compression Conference (DCC).

[33]  Sam Kwong,et al.  Analytical Model of Zero Quantized DCT Coefficients for Video Encoder Optimization , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo.

[34]  Jun Wu,et al.  Predicting zero coefficients for High Efficiency Video Coding , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME).

[35]  Xuedong Jiang,et al.  All-zero block detection algorithm based on quantitative parameters , 2012, 2012 3rd International Conference on System Science, Engineering Design and Manufacturing Informatization.

[36]  Ruiqin Xiong,et al.  An adaptive and low-complexity all-zero block detection for HEVC encoder , 2017, 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS).

[37]  Gary J. Sullivan,et al.  Overview of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Standard , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[38]  Munchurl Kim,et al.  An All-Zero Block Detection Scheme for Low-Complexity HEVC Encoders , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia.

[39]  Yang Song,et al.  Motion Feature and Hadamard Coefficient-Based Fast Multiple Reference Frame Motion Estimation for H.264 , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[40]  Ling Lu,et al.  Fast Mode Decision Based on All-Zero Block in H.264/AVC , 2011, 2011 Second International Conference on Digital Manufacturing & Automation.