Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fast HEVC I-frame coding based on strength of dominant direction of CUs

  • Special Issue Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Real-Time Image Processing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

High efficiency video coding (HEVC), the latest international video coding standard, greatly outperforms previous standards such as H.264/AVC in terms of coding bitrate and video quality. The coding efficiency improvement in HEVC is achieved by introducing several new techniques such as recursive quad-tree structure and increased number of intra prediction modes. However, computational load is also increased due to employing the new techniques. In this paper, we propose a solution for fast I-frame coding in HEVC standard using homogeneity of Coding Units (CUs). The proposed solution consists of two stages. In the first stage, we evaluate CU homogeneity by computing a parameter named dominant direction strength and predict CU size by this means. In the second stage, we select 11 modes out of 35 for the specified CU size based on dominant direction of the CU. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves on average 45.8 % reduction on coding time, with very similar coding efficiency as the HEVC reference software. Moreover, we designed tree-stage pipelined architecture for our method which can operate at 235 MHz maximum clock rate which means it can be used for real-time coding of all intra configuration of HEVC videos up to level 6.2.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sullivan, G.-J., Ohm, J., Han, W.-J.: Overview of the high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 22(12), 1649–1668 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bross B., Ohm J., Sullivan G.-J., Han W.-J., Wiegand T.: High efficiency video coding text specification draft 10. JCTVC-L1003 (2013)

  3. Richardson I.E.: The H.264 advanced video compression standard. Second edition, Wiley (2010)

  4. Cho, S., Kim, M.: Fast CU splitting and pruning for suboptimal CU partitioning in HEVC intra coding. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 23(9), 1555–1564 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Shen, L., Zhang, Z., Liu, Z.: Effective CU size decision for HEVC intra coding. IEEE Trans. Image Process. 23(10), 4232–4241 (2014)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  6. Shen, X., Yu, L.: CU splitting early termination based on weighted SVM. EURASIP J. Image Video Process. (2013). doi:10.1186/1687-5281-2013-4

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ting Y.-C., Chang T.-S.: Gradient-based PU size selection for HEVC intra prediction. In: IEEE International symposium on circuits and systems (ISCAS), pp. 1929–1932 (2014)

  8. Guifen T., Goto S.: Content adaptive prediction unit size decision algorithm for HEVC intra coding. Picture Coding Symposium (PCS), pp. 405–408, (2012)

  9. Kim, Y., Jun, D., Jung, S.-H., Choi, J.S., Kim, J.: A fast intra-prediction method in HEVC using rate- distortion estimation based on hadamard transform. ETRI J. 35(2), 270–280 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Yan S., Hong L., He W., Wang Q.: Group based fast mode decision algorithm for intra prediction in HEVC. In: International Conference on signal image technology and internet based systems, Naples, pp. 225–229 (2012)

  11. Wang L.-L., Siu W.-C.: Novel adaptive algorithm for intra prediction with compromised modes skipping and signaling processes in HEVC. IEEE Trans. Circuits and Syst. Video Technol. 23(10), 1686–1694 (2013)

  12. Tongyun W., Zhaohui L., Dongmei L., Jiangpeng H.: Fast intra-prediction mode decision algorithm in HEVC for depth map coding. In: International conference on information and communications technologies (ICT2014), pp. 1–5 (2014)

  13. Jiang W., Hanjie M., Chen Y.: Gradient based fast mode decision algorithm for intra prediction in HEVC. In: IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics, communications and network, Yichang, pp. 1836–1840 (2012)

  14. da Silva T.L., Agostini L.V., da Silva Cruz L.A.: Fast HEVC intra prediction mode decision based on edge direction information. In; IEEE signal processing conference, Bucharest, pp. 1214–1218 (2012)

  15. Motra A. S., Gupta A., Shukla M., Bansal P., Bansal V.: Fast intra mode decision for HEVC video encoder. In: IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM), pp. 1–5 (2012)

  16. Zhao L., Zhang I., Ma S., Zhao D.: Fast mode decision algorithm for intra prediction in HEVC. IEEE International Conference on Visual communication and image processing, Tainan, Taiwan, pp. 1–4 (2011)

  17. Ramezanpour Fini M., Zargari F.: A fast intra mode decision method based on reduction of the number of modes in HEVC standard. In: International Symposium on telecommunications (IST2014), pp. 839–843 (2014)

  18. Ramezanpour Fini M., Zargari F.: Two stage fast mode decision algorithm for intra prediction in HEVC. Multim. Tools Appl. 74 (9) (2015). doi:10.1007/s11042-015-2675-5

  19. Yao, Y., Li, X., Lu, Y.: Fast intra mode decision algorithm for HEVC based on dominant edge assent distribution. Multim. Tools Appl. (2014). doi:10.1007/s11042-014-2382-7

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kim I.-K., McCann K., Sugimoto K., Bross B., Han W.-J., Sullivan G.: High efficiency video coding (HEVC) test model 15 (HM15) encoder description. Joint collaborative team on video coding (JCT-VC), Document of JCTVC-Q1002, 17th Meeting, Valencia (2014)

  21. Kim, Y., Jun, D., Jung, S.-H., Choi, J.-S., Kim, J.: A fast intra-prediction method in HEVC using rate-distortion estimation based on Hadamard transform. ETRI J. 35(2), 270–280 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding Reference Software, ver. HM 15.0 [Online]. Available: https://hevc.hhi.fraunhofer.de/

  23. Bossen F.: Common test condition and software reference configurations. Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding JCTVC-L1100, Geneva (2013)

  24. Bjontegaard G.: Calculation of average PSNR differences between RD_curves. In: Presented at the 13th VCEG-M33 Meeting, Austin (2001)

  25. Sullivan G., Minoo K.: Objective quality metric and alternative methods for measuring coding efficiency. document JCTVCH0012, ITU-T/ISO/IEC Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC), 8th Meeting: San Jose, CA, USA, pp. 1–10 (2012)

  26. Shen, L., Zhang, Z., An, P.: Fast CU size decision and mode decision algorithm for HEVC intra coding. IEEE Trans. Consumer Elect. 59(1), 207–213 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammadreza Ramezanpour

  2. Department of Information Technology of Research Institute for ICT, formerly known as Iran Telecom Research Center (ITRC), Tehran, Iran

    Farzad Zargari

Authors
  1. Mohammadreza Ramezanpour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Farzad Zargari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Farzad Zargari.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ramezanpour, M., Zargari, F. Fast HEVC I-frame coding based on strength of dominant direction of CUs. J Real-Time Image Proc 12, 397–406 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11554-016-0580-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11554-016-0580-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation