An improved block size selection method based on macroblock movement characteristic

• Published in: Multimedia tools and applications Vol. 43; no. 2; pp. 131 - 143
• Main Authors: Wang, Xiangwen, Sun, Jun, Xie, Rong, Yu, Songyu, Zhang, Wenjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.06.2009; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Data Structures and Information Theory; Hierarchies; Multimedia Information Systems; Optimization techniques; Special Purpose and Application-Based Systems; Studies; Video compression; MB movement characteristic; Image edge direction; Video encoder; Variable block size selection; Mode decision
• ISSN: 1380-7501; 1573-7721
• DOI: 10.1007/s11042-009-0260-5

The H.264 video compression standard supports seven variable block sizes ranging from 4 × 4 to 16 × 16 for one Macro Block (MB) with 16 × 16 size to conduct motion estimation (ME) and compensation. This new feature achieves significant coding gain at the cost of huge computation complexity. Dozens of fast mode decision algorithms with fast block size selection have been proposed to reduce complexity. In this paper, we propose an improved fast block size selection method based on MB movement characteristic. The Motion Vector (MV) and block residual are employed to analyze the movement characteristic of one MB novelly. Then the movement characteristic is used to decide whether and how to merge or split the MB for encoding. Experimental results show that this method speeds up mode decision procedure dramatically with negligible compression performance degradation.