Intra Frame Luma Mode Prediction Using Neural Networks In HEVC

Abstract

High Efficiency Video Coding, the latest video coding standard proposed by the JVT-VC and three profiles- HEVC main, main 10 and main intraframe were adopted in January 2013, provides significant amount of compression compared to older standards, while retaining similar visual quality. This is achieved at the cost of a computationally expensive encoding method.Intra frame coding contributes to a large portion of the computational complexity. In this research, a way to speed up the intra frame prediction mode decision using Artificial Neural Networks is proposed. The search for the correct prediction mode is simplified by using neural networks to analyze and reduce the number of modes that must be searched to arrive at the mode decision.By employing this scheme, a speed up of upto 20\% has been observed without significant loss of PSNR or increase in bitrate.