Adaptive quantization for enhancement layer video coding

• US 9,185,418 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2014
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Regunathan, Shankar, Sun, Shijun, Tu, Chengjie, Lin, Chih-Lung
• Primary Examiner(s): PRINCE, JESSICA MARIE
• Application Number:
  US14/523,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20150043633A1
• Time in Patent Office: 382 Days
• Field of Search: 375/240.03, 382/232
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/124 Quantisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/126 Details of normalisation or weighting functions, e.g. normalisation matrices or variable uniform quantisers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/184 the unit being bits, e.g. of the compressed video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/186 the unit being a colour or a chrominance component
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/187 the unit being a scalable video layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/196 being specially adapted for the computation of encoding parameters, e.g. by averaging previously computed encoding parameters processing of motion vectors H04N19/513
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/197 including determination of the initial value of an encoding parameter H04N19/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/34 Scalability techniques involving progressive bit-plane based encoding of the enhancement layer, e.g. fine granular scalability [FGS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/46 Embedding additional information in the video signal during the compression process H04N19/517, H04N19/68, H04N19/70 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/463 by compressing encoding parameters before transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/593 involving spatial prediction techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/70 characterised by syntax aspects related to video coding, e.g. related to compression standards

Abstract

Techniques and tools for encoding enhancement layer video with quantization that varies spatially and/or between color channels are presented, along with corresponding decoding techniques and tools. For example, an encoding tool determines whether quantization varies spatially over a picture, and the tool also determines whether quantization varies between color channels in the picture. The tool signals quantization parameters for macroblocks in the picture in an encoded bit stream. In some implementations, to signal the quantization parameters, the tool predicts the quantization parameters, and the quantization parameters are signaled with reference to the predicted quantization parameters. A decoding tool receives the encoded bit stream, predicts the quantization parameters, and uses the signaled information to determine the quantization parameters for the macroblocks of the enhancement layer video. The decoding tool performs inverse quantization that can vary spatially and/or between color channels.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising a processing unit, memory and a storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause the computing device to perform:

encoding enhancement layer video, including varying quantization spatially and between plural color channels of the enhancement layer video for a picture organized in plural color channels, and further including, when unit-level spatial quantization variation is used for the picture, for a current unit of the enhancement layer video for the picture, predicting a unit-level quantization parameter (“

QP”

) for the current unit using one or more unit-level QPs for spatially neighboring units; and

outputting the encoded enhancement layer video in a bitstream, including;

signaling in the bitstream information that indicates an on/off decision for unit-level spatial quantization variation for the picture; and

signaling in the bitstream QP information that indicates plural QPs that at least in part parameterize the varied quantization of the enhancement layer video for the picture, the QP information including, when unit-level spatial quantization variation is used, the unit-level QP for the current unit signaled in the bitstream as a differential QP relative to the predicted unit-level QP for the current unit, thereby facilitating combination by a video decoder of the differential QP with a prediction of the unit-level QP computed by the video decoder for the current unit.

2. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the current unit and the spatially neighboring units are blocks or macroblocks of the picture.

3. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the encoding further comprises:

determining whether to use unit-level spatial quantization variation based at least in part on one or more of;

(a) a user setting that controls speed of the encoding;

(b) a user setting that controls complexity of the encoding;

(c) analysis of complexity of the video for the picture; and

(d) analysis of spatial variance of the video for the picture.

4. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the information that indicates the on/off decision for unit-level spatial quantization variation for the picture is a one-bit flag.

5. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the encoding includes performing the quantization on transform coefficients of blocks of units of the enhancement layer video for the picture, and wherein the encoding further includes, for the current unit, determining a different QP value per color channel of the current unit.

6. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the QP information further comprises:

information that indicates one or more picture-level QPs for the enhancement layer video for the picture or respective color channels of the enhancement layer video for the picture.

7. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the spatially neighboring units include a left unit that is to the left of the current unit and an above unit that is above the current unit, and wherein the predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit uses one or more prediction rules based on QP for the left unit and QP for the above unit.

8. The computing device of claim 7 wherein, according to the one or more prediction rules:

if the QP for the left unit is not available, another QP is substituted for the QP for the left unit; and

if the QP for the above unit is not available, another QP is substituted for the QP for the above unit.

9. The computing device of claim 1 wherein the spatially neighboring units include a left unit that is to the left of the current unit and an above unit that is above the current unit, and wherein the predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit uses one or more prediction rules based upon the QP for the left unit, the QP for the above unit and, if neither the QP for the left unit nor the QP for the above unit is available, a default QP.

10. In a computing device that implements a scalable video decoder, a method comprising:

receiving encoded data in a bitstream for enhancement layer video, the encoded data including;

information in the bitstream that indicates an on/off decision for unit-level spatial quantization variation for a picture organized in plural color channels; and

quantization parameter (“

QP”

) information in the bitstream that indicates plural QPs that at least in part parameterize inverse quantization of the enhancement layer video for the picture, the QP information including, when unit-level spatial quantization variation is used, a differential QP in the bitstream for a unit-level QP for a current unit of the enhancement layer video for the picture; and

decoding the enhancement layer video for the picture, including varying inverse quantization spatially and between the plural color channels of the enhancement layer video for the picture, and further including, when unit-level spatial quantization variation is used, for the current unit;

predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit using one or more unit-level QPs for spatially neighboring units; and

combining the predicted unit-level QP for the current unit with the differential QP from the bitstream for the current unit.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the current unit and the spatially neighboring units are blocks or macroblocks of the picture.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the information that indicates the on/off decision for unit-level spatial quantization variation for the picture is a one-bit flag.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the decoding includes performing the inverse quantization on transform coefficients of blocks of units of the enhancement layer video for the picture, and wherein the decoding further includes, for the current unit, determining a different QP value per color channel of the current unit.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the QP information further comprises:

information that indicates one or more picture-level QPs for the enhancement layer video for the picture or respective color channels of the enhancement layer video for the picture.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the spatially neighboring units include a left unit that is to the left of the current unit and an above unit that is above the current unit, and wherein the predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit uses one or more prediction rules based on QP for the left unit and QP for the above unit.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein, according to the one or more prediction rules:

if the QP for the left unit is not available, another QP is substituted for the QP for the left unit; and

if the QP for the above unit is not available, another QP is substituted for the QP for the above unit.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein the spatially neighboring units include a left unit that is to the left of the current unit and an above unit that is above the current unit, and wherein the predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit uses one or more prediction rules based upon the QP for the left unit, the QP for the above unit and, if neither the QP for the left unit nor the QP for the above unit is available, a default QP.

18. A computer-readable memory or storage device having stored therein computer-executable instructions for causing a computing device, when programmed thereby, to perform:

receiving encoded data in a bitstream for enhancement layer video, the encoded data including;

a one-bit flag in the bitstream that indicates an on/off decision for unit-level spatial quantization variation for a picture organized in plural color channels; and

quantization parameter (“

QP”

) information in the bitstream that indicates plural QPs that at least in part parameterize inverse quantization of the enhancement layer video for the picture, the QP information including, when unit-level spatial quantization variation is used, a differential QP in the bitstream for a unit-level QP for a current unit of the enhancement layer video for the picture; and

decoding the enhancement layer video for the picture, including varying inverse quantization spatially and between the plural color channels of the enhancement layer video for the picture, and further including, when unit-level spatial quantization variation is used, for the current unit;

predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit using one or more unit-level QPs for spatially neighboring units, wherein the current unit and the spatially neighboring units are blocks or macroblocks of the picture; and

combining the predicted unit-level QP for the current unit with the differential QP from the bitstream for the current unit.

19. The computer-readable memory or storage device of claim 18 wherein the QP information further comprises:

information that indicates one or more picture-level QPs for the enhancement layer video for the picture or respective color channels of the enhancement layer video for the picture.

20. The computer-readable memory or storage device of claim 18 wherein the spatially neighboring units include a left unit that is to the left of the current unit and an above unit that is above the current unit, and wherein the predicting the unit-level QP for the current unit uses one or more prediction rules based upon the QP for the left unit, the QP for the above unit and, if neither the QP for the left unit nor the QP for the above unit is available, a default QP.