Abstract:

Scalable video coding（SVC）is a scalable extension of H.264／AVC that uses a single bitstream to provide multiple temporal, spatial and quality（SNR）resolution. This new standard employs many new modes for encoding a macro-block（MB）at the cost of high computational complexity in mode-decision. This paper proposes a fast mode decision algorithm for SVC. Firstly, the correlation among neighboring layers, frames and MBs is used to predict the most possible mode for current MB. Secondly, a merge and split strategy is further proposed to correct the prediction error. According to our experimental results, the proposed algorithm reduces the computational complexity significantly with negligible coding loss and bit-rate increases.

Key words: video coding, scalable video coding, H.264, multi-mode decision, multi-mode prediction, fast algorithm