Fast inter prediction block mode decision approach for H.264/AVC based on all-zero blocks detection

H.264/AVC video coding standard employs multiple coding-modes and significantly improves coding efficiency. As a result, the complexity and computation load of video coding increase drastically, which make it very difficult for real-time applications. To reduce the computation burden, a fast inter prediction block mode decision approach for H.264/AVC based on all-zero blocks detection is proposed. Many coding modes can be skipped through checking the best matching block of the current block by using adaptive threshold before transform and quantization in the mode decision process. Experimental results show that the coding speeds up greatly with the proposed algorithm without considerable performance degradation and bit-rate increase compared with full-mode decision algorithm and reference [2] algorithm.