Content-adaptive mode-dependent filtering algorithm for H.264/advanced video coding intra prediction

In H.264/advanced video coding (AVC), low-pass filtering is performed on neighboring coded pixels before intra prediction is applied to reduce the effect of quantization errors. However, reducing the effect of quantization errors by conventional methods is difficult in some areas, depending on the image characteristics. To alleviate this issue, we need to consider the prediction direction. We propose a mode-dependent filtering technique to reduce the effect of quantization errors. Our method has a threshold to adaptively choose between the conventional and proposed methods to reduce the number of flag bits that are sent to the decoder. The method is compared with other benchmark methods in terms of their average bit-saving and peak signal-to-noise ratio. Simulation results show that the average bit-rate reduction is about 1.222% in test sequences. (C) 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.OE.51.11.117402]