Journal of Broadcast Engineering (방송공학회논문지)

The Korean Institute of Broadcast and Media Engineers (한국방송∙미디어공학회)
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Human Visual Perception-Based Quantization For Efficiency HEVC Encoder

HEVC 부호화기 고효율 압축을 위한 인지시각 특징기반 양자화 방법

  • Kim, Young-Woong (Dept. of Computer Engineering, Kwangwoon University) ;
  • Ahn, Yong-Jo (Dept. of Computer Engineering, Kwangwoon University) ;
  • Sim, Donggyu (Dept. of Computer Engineering, Kwangwoon University)
  • 김영웅 (광운대학교 컴퓨터공학과) ;
  • 안용조 (광운대학교 컴퓨터공학과) ;
  • 심동규 (광운대학교 컴퓨터공학과)
  • Received : 2016.07.04
  • Accepted : 2017.01.05
  • Published : 2017.01.30
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Abstract

In this paper, the fast encoding algorithm in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) encoder was studied. For the encoding efficiency, the current HEVC reference software is divided the input image into Coding Tree Unit (CTU). then, it should be re-divided into CU up to maximum depth in form of quad-tree for RDO (Rate-Distortion Optimization) in encoding precess. But, it is one of the reason why complexity is high in the encoding precess. In this paper, to reduce the high complexity in the encoding process, it proposed the method by determining the maximum depth of the CU using a hierarchical clustering at the pre-processing. The hierarchical clustering results represented an average combination of motion vectors (MV) on neighboring blocks. Experimental results showed that the proposed method could achieve an average of 16% time saving with minimal BD-rate loss at 1080p video resolution. When combined the previous fast algorithm, the proposed method could achieve an average 45.13% time saving with 1.84% BD-rate loss.

본 논문에서는 사람의 인지특성을 기반으로 대조 민감도에 의해 나타나는 특성을 모델링 한 JND (Just Noticeable Difference) 모델을 비디오 코딩에 적용하여 압축률을 높이는 방법을 제안한다. 제안하는 방법은 JND 모델에 따른 임계치를 기준으로 양자화 단계에서 비가시 신호를 제한하여 주관적 화질을 유지하면서 비트율을 낮추는 방법으로, 변환을 통해 주파수 도메인으로 변환된 잔차 신호들을 양자화 단계에서 입력으로 받아 신호제한 및 양자화를 수행한다. 양자화 단계에서 주파수 도메인의 신호가 JND 관점에서 유사하게 인지되는 기준 임계치를 구해 잔차 신호에서 비가시 신호를 제한하고 양자화를 수행한 후, 최적의 율-인지왜곡 비용을 갖는 양자화 계수를 선택함으로써 비트율을 절감시킨다. 제안하는 알고리즘의 성능 검증은 최신 비디오 압축 표준인 HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding)의 참조 소프트웨어인 HM16.0에 적용했으며, CTC (Common Test Condition)의 Random Access 모드에서 HM 16.0을 통해 압축된 영상 대비 평균 4.11%, BQTerrace 영상의 양자화 파라미터 22에서 최대 17.22%의 비트율 절감을 보였으며, Low Delay 모드에서 평균 7.16%, 최대 22.55%, All intra 모드에서 평균 13.41%, 최대 21.64%의 비트율 절감을 보였다. 5명의 평가자들의 주관적 화질 측정으로 평균 DMOS (Difference Mean Opinion Score) 값은 최대 약 0.36 최소 0 정도의 분포를 보였다.

Keywords

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