Complexity reduction by modes reduction in RD-list for intra-frame prediction in 3D-HEVC depth maps

This paper presents a complexity reduction technique for 3D High Efficiency Video Coding (3D-HEVC) using Rate-Distortion (RD) list reduction in the depth maps intra-frame prediction. In the 3D-HEVC standardization, the HEVC intra-frame prediction was inherited from texture to depth maps. However, considering depth maps simpler behavior than texture, the intra-frame prediction contains an unnecessary complexity since there is a high number of modes evaluated by their RD-cost. This paper evaluates the usage of fewer best-ranked modes in RD-list. As a case study, 23.9% of complexity reduction was achieved by reducing the Rough Mode Decision (RMD) selection and the Most Probable Modes (MPM) algorithm to the selected configuration with small impact in BD-rate.