Decoder-driven mode decision in a block-based distributed video codec

  • Authors:

  • Stefaan Mys;Jürgen Slowack;Jozef Škorupa;Nikos Deligiannis;Peter Lambert;Adrian Munteanu;Rik Walle

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Electronics and Information Systems (ELIS)--Multimedia Lab, Ghent University--IBBT, Ghent, Belgium 9050;Department of Electronics and Information Systems (ELIS)--Multimedia Lab, Ghent University--IBBT, Ghent, Belgium 9050;Department of Electronics and Information Systems (ELIS)--Multimedia Lab, Ghent University--IBBT, Ghent, Belgium 9050;Electronics and Informatics Department (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel--IBBT, Brussels, Belgium 1050;Department of Electronics and Information Systems (ELIS)--Multimedia Lab, Ghent University--IBBT, Ghent, Belgium 9050;Electronics and Informatics Department (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel--IBBT, Brussels, Belgium 1050;Department of Electronics and Information Systems (ELIS)--Multimedia Lab, Ghent University--IBBT, Ghent, Belgium 9050

  • Venue:
  • Multimedia Tools and Applications
  • Year:
  • 2012

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Distributed Video Coding (DVC) is a video coding paradigm in which the computational complexity is shifted from the encoder to the decoder. DVC is based on information theoretic results suggesting that, under ideal conditions, the same rate-distortion performance can be achieved as for traditional video codecs. In practice however, there is still a significant performance gap between the two coding architectures. One of the main reasons for this gap is the lack of multiple coding modes in current DVC solutions. In this paper, we propose a block-based distributed video codec that supports three coding modes: Wyner---Ziv, skip, and intra. The mode decision process is entirely decoder-driven. Skip blocks are selected based on the estimated accuracy of the side information. The choice between intra and Wyner---Ziv coding modes is made on a rate-distortion basis, by selecting the coding mode with the lowest rate while assuring equal distortion for both modes. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed block-based architecture has some advantages over classical bitplane-based approaches. Introducing skip and intra coded blocks yields average bitrate gains of up to 33.7% over our basic configuration supporting Wyner---Ziv mode only, and up to 29.7% over the reference bitplane-based DISCOVER codec.