A fast and efficient inter mode decision algorithm for the H.264/AVC video coding standard

The H.264/AVC video coding standard is used in a wide range of applications from video conferencing to high-definition TV. Compared to the previous standard, the H.264/AVC has significantly better performance in terms of PSNR and visual quality at the same bit rate. It uses a complex mode decision technique based on rate-distortion optimization (RDO). Therefore, this technique introduces a high computational complexity. However, the computational complexity is one key challenge for the high efficient compression. In order to reduce the H.264/AVC complexity a new efficient and fast mode decision algorithm, based on the spatial homogeneity and temporal stationary characteristics of the current macroblock, is proposed in this paper. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is able to reduce up to 66,90 % of the computational complexity compared to the high complexity algorithm in the JM16.1 reference software with tolerant performance degradation.