JP2013118686A - Moving image encoding apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a moving image encoding apparatus and a moving image decoding apparatus in which additional information of motion vector selection information is reduced while increasing degree of freedom for motion vector calculation.SOLUTION: A moving image encoding apparatus which performs motion compensation prediction encoding to a moving image, comprises: an obtaining unit which obtains usable blocks having motion vectors and the number of the usable blocks from an encoded block adjacent to a block to be encoded; a selection unit which selects a selection block from the usable blocks; a selection information encoding unit which encodes selection information for specifying the selection block by using a code table corresponding to the number of usable blocks; and an image encoding unit which performs motion compensation prediction encoding to the block to be encoded by using the motion vector included in the selection block.

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving image encoding device and a moving image decoding device that obtain motion vectors from encoded and decoded images and perform motion compensation prediction.

  One technique used for encoding moving images is motion compensated prediction. In motion-compensated prediction, a motion vector is obtained using an encoding target image to be newly encoded in the video encoding device and a local decoded image that has already been obtained, and motion compensation is performed using the motion vector. Thus, a predicted image is generated.

  As a method for obtaining a motion vector in motion compensated prediction, there is a direct mode in which a prediction image is generated using a motion vector of an encoding target block derived from a motion vector of an already encoded block (Japanese Patent No. 4020789). No. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,621). In the direct mode, since the motion vector is not encoded, the code amount of the motion vector information can be reduced. The direct mode is H.264. H.264 / AVC.

  In the direct mode, when the motion vector of the encoding target block is predicted and generated, the motion vector is calculated by a fixed method of calculating the motion vector from the median value of the motion vector of the encoded block adjacent to the encoding target block. Generate. Therefore, the freedom degree of motion vector calculation is low. In addition, in order to increase the degree of freedom described above, when a motion vector calculation method for selecting one of a plurality of encoded blocks is used, in order to indicate the selected encoded block, the position of the block is always set. It must be sent as motion vector selection information. For this reason, the code amount increases.

  The present invention provides a moving image encoding device and a moving image decoding device that reduce the additional information of motion vector selection information while selecting one of the encoded blocks to increase the degree of freedom of motion vector calculation. With the goal.

  One aspect of the present invention is a moving picture coding apparatus that performs motion compensation prediction coding of a moving picture, and an available block that is a block having a motion vector from a coded block adjacent to a coding target block and the use An obtaining unit that obtains the number of possible blocks; an encoded block; a selection unit that selects one selected block from the available blocks; and a code table corresponding to the number of available blocks, A video encoding apparatus comprising: a selection information encoding unit that encodes selection information to be identified; and an image encoding unit that performs motion compensation prediction encoding on the encoding target block using a motion vector included in the selection block. I will provide a.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a moving picture decoding apparatus that performs motion compensation prediction decoding of a moving picture, and is a code table according to the number of available blocks that are adjacent decoded blocks having motion vectors adjacent to the decoding target block. A selection information decoding unit that decodes selection information, a motion vector selection unit that selects one motion vector indicated by the selection information decoded by the selection information decoding unit from the available blocks, and the motion There is provided a moving picture decoding apparatus including an image decoding unit that performs motion compensation prediction decoding on a decoding target image using a motion vector selected by a vector selection unit.

1 is a block diagram of a video encoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of a moving image encoder. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of an acquisition part / selection part Diagram explaining the discrimination method based on block size Diagram explaining the discrimination method based on block size Diagram explaining the discrimination method based on block size The figure explaining the discrimination method by unidirectional or bidirectional prediction The flowchart which shows the process sequence of a selection information encoding part. Example of index of selection information Example of code table of selection information Outline of syntax structure Macroblock layer data structure Block diagram of a video decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention The flowchart which shows the process sequence of a moving image decoding apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  A video encoding apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The subtractor 101 is configured to calculate a difference between the input moving image signal 11 and the predicted image signal 15 and output a prediction error signal 12. The output terminal of the subtractor 101 is connected to the variable length encoder 111 via the orthogonal transformer 102 and the quantizer 103. The orthogonal transformer 102 orthogonally transforms the prediction error signal 12 from the subtractor 101 to generate orthogonal transform coefficients, and the quantizer 103 quantizes the orthogonal transform coefficients and outputs quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information 13. The variable length encoder 111 performs variable length encoding on the quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information 13 from the quantizer 103.

  The output terminal of the quantizer 103 is connected to an adder 106 via an inverse quantizer 104 and an inverse orthogonal transformer 105. The inverse quantizer 104 inverse quantizes the quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information 13 and transforms it into orthogonal transform coefficients. The inverse orthogonal transformer 105 converts the orthogonal transform coefficient into a prediction error signal. The adder 106 adds the prediction error signal of the inverse orthogonal transformer 105 and the prediction image signal 15 to generate a local decoded image signal 14. The output terminal of the adder 105 is connected to the motion compensation predictor 108 via the frame memory 107.

  The frame memory 107 stores the locally decoded image signal 14. The setting unit 114 sets the motion compensation prediction mode (prediction mode) of the encoding target block. The prediction mode includes unidirectional prediction using one reference image and bidirectional prediction using two reference images. Unidirectional prediction includes AVC L0 prediction and L1 prediction. The motion compensation predictor 108 includes a predictor 109 and an acquisition / selection unit 110. The acquisition unit / selection unit 110 obtains an available block that is a block having a motion vector and the number of the available blocks from the encoded blocks adjacent to the encoding target block, and selects one selected block from the available blocks. select. The motion compensated predictor 108 generates a predicted image signal 15 from the local decoded image signal 14 and the input moving image signal 11 from the frame memory 107. The acquisition unit / selection unit 110 selects one block (selected block) from adjacent blocks adjacent to the encoding target block. For example, a block having an appropriate motion vector among adjacent blocks is selected as the selected block. The acquisition unit / selection unit 110 selects the motion vector included in the selected block as the motion vector 16 used for motion compensation prediction, and sends the motion vector 16 to the predictor 109. Also, the acquisition unit / selection unit 110 generates selection information 17 of the selected block and sends it to the variable length encoder 111.

  The variable length encoder 111 includes a selection information encoding unit 112. The selection information encoding unit 112 performs variable-length encoding on the selection information 17 while switching the code table so that the code table has the same number of entries as the number of blocks that can be used in the encoded block. An available block is a block having a motion vector among encoded blocks adjacent to the encoding target block. A multiplexer (multiplexer) 113 multiplexes the encoded quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information and selection information, and outputs encoded data.

  The operation of the moving picture coding apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the prediction error signal 12 is generated (S11). In generating the prediction error signal 12, a motion vector is selected, and a predicted image is generated using the selected motion vector. The difference between the predicted image signal, that is, the predicted image signal 15 and the input moving image signal 11 is calculated by the subtractor 101, whereby the prediction error signal 12 is generated.

  Orthogonal transformation is performed on the prediction error signal 12 by the orthogonal transformer 102, and an orthogonal transformation coefficient is generated (S12). The orthogonal transform coefficient is quantized by the quantizer 103 (S13). The quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information is inversely quantized by the inverse quantizer 104 (S14), and then inversely orthogonally transformed by the inverse orthogonal transformer 105 to obtain a reproduced prediction error signal (S15). The adder 106 adds the reproduced prediction error signal and the predicted image signal 15 to generate a locally decoded image signal 14 (S16). The locally decoded image signal 14 is accumulated (as a reference image) in the frame memory 107 (S17), and the locally decoded image signal read from the frame memory 107 is input to the motion compensation predictor 108.

  The predictor 109 of the motion compensated predictor 108 performs motion compensation prediction on the locally decoded image signal (reference image) using the motion vector 16 to generate a predicted image signal 15. The predicted image signal 15 is sent to the subtractor 101 to obtain a difference from the input moving image signal 11, and is further sent to the adder 106 to generate a local decoded image signal 14.

  The acquisition unit / selection unit 110 selects one motion vector used for motion compensation prediction from adjacent blocks, and sends the selected motion vector 16 to the predictor 109 to generate selection information 17. The selection information 17 is sent to the selection information encoding unit 112. When selecting a motion vector from adjacent blocks, it is possible to select an appropriate motion vector that reduces the code amount.

  The orthogonal transform coefficient information 13 quantized by the quantizer 103 is also input to the variable length encoder 111 and subjected to variable length encoding (S18). From the acquisition unit / selection unit 110, selection information 16 used for motion compensation prediction is output and input to the selection information encoding unit 112. In the selection information encoding unit 112, the code table is switched so that the code table has the same number of entries as the number of usable blocks that are adjacent to the encoding target block and are encoded blocks having motion vectors. Information 17 is variable length encoded. The quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information and selection information from the variable length encoder 111 are multiplexed by the multiplexer 113, and the bit stream of the encoded data 18 is output (S19). The encoded data 18 is sent to a storage system or transmission path (not shown).

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the flow of steps S14 to S17 and the flow of steps S18 and S19 can be replaced. That is, the variable length encoding step S18 and the multiplexing step S19 are performed after the quantization step S13, and the inverse quantization step S14 to the storage step S17 can be performed in pairs with the multiplexing step S19.

  Next, the operation of the acquisition / selection unit 110 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, referring to the frame memory 107, an available block candidate that is an encoded block having a motion vector and adjacent to the encoding target block is searched (S101). When available block candidates are searched, the block size of motion compensated prediction of these available block candidates is determined (S102). Next, it is determined whether the available block candidate is unidirectional or bidirectional prediction (S103). Based on the determination result and the prediction mode of the encoding target block, an available block is extracted from the available block candidates. One selected block is selected from the extracted available blocks, and information for specifying the selected block is obtained as selection information (S104).

  Next, block size determination (S102) will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The adjacent blocks used in this embodiment are blocks located on the left, upper left, upper, and upper right of the encoding target block. Therefore, when the encoding target block is located at the upper left corner of the frame, there is no usable block adjacent to the encoding target block, and therefore the present invention cannot be applied to this encoding target block. When the encoding target block is at the upper end of the screen, the usable block is only one block on the left, and when the encoding target block is the left end of the screen and not the right end, the usable block is above the encoding target block, The upper right two blocks.

  When the macroblock size is 16x16 size, there are four types of block sizes for motion compensation prediction of adjacent blocks: 16x16 size, 16x8 size, 8x16 size, and 8x8 size, as shown in FIGS. When these four types are considered, there are 20 types of adjacent blocks that can become usable blocks as shown in FIGS. That is, the 16 × 16 size shown in FIG. 4A has 4 types, the 16 × 8 size and 8 × 16 size shown in FIG. 4B have 10 types, and the 8 × 8 size shown in FIG. 4C has 6 types. In the block size determination (S102), an available block is searched from these 20 types of blocks according to the block size. For example, if the available block size is only 16 × 16, the available blocks determined by this block size are four types of blocks of 16 × 16 size as shown in FIG. 4A. That is, the available blocks are the upper left block of the encoding target block, the upper block of the encoding target block, the left block of the encoding target block, and the upper right block of the encoding target block. Also, when the macroblock size is expanded to 16 × 16 size or more, it can be an available block as in the case where the macroblock size is 16 × 16 size. For example, when the macro block size is 32 × 32 size, there are four types of block sizes for motion compensation prediction of adjacent blocks: 32 × 32 size, 32 × 16 size, 16 × 32 size, and 16 × 16 size, and there are 20 types of adjacent blocks that can be usable blocks. It becomes.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the determination of unidirectional or bidirectional prediction (S103) performed by the acquisition unit / selection unit 110 will be described with an example.

  For example, it is assumed that the block size is limited to 16 × 16, and the unidirectional or bidirectional prediction of the adjacent block with respect to the encoding target block is as shown in FIG. In discrimination of unidirectional or bidirectional prediction (S103), an available block is searched according to the direction of prediction. For example, an adjacent block including the prediction direction L0 is set as an available block determined in the prediction direction. That is, the upper, left, and upper right blocks shown in FIG. 5A are available blocks determined in the prediction direction. In this case, the upper left block of the encoding target block is not used. Assuming that the adjacent block including the prediction direction L1 is an available block determined by the prediction method, the upper left block and the upper block of the encoding target block shown in FIG. Become. In this case, the left and upper right blocks of the encoding target block are not used. Assuming that an adjacent block including the prediction direction L0 / L1 is an available block determined by the prediction method, an available block in which only the block above the encoding target block shown in FIG. 5C is determined in the prediction direction. It becomes. In this case, the left, upper left, and upper right blocks of the encoding target block are not used. Note that the prediction direction L0 (L1) corresponds to the prediction direction of L0 prediction (L1 prediction) in AVC.

  Next, the selection information encoding unit 112 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  Search for available blocks that are already coded blocks with motion vectors from neighboring blocks adjacent to the current block, and obtain the block size and available block information determined by unidirectional or bidirectional prediction. (S201). Using this usable block information, the code table is switched according to the number of usable blocks as shown in FIG. 8 (S202). Using the switched code table, the selection information 17 sent from the acquisition unit / selection unit 110 is variable-length encoded (S203).

  Next, an example of the index of selection information will be described with reference to FIG.

  When there is no usable block as shown in FIG. 7A, the present invention is not applicable to this block, so selection information is not sent. As shown in FIG. 7B, when there is one available block, the motion vector of the available block used for motion compensation of the encoding target block is uniquely determined, so selection information is not sent. As shown in FIG. 7C, when there are two available blocks, selection information for index 0 or 1 is sent. As shown in FIG. 7D, when there are three available blocks, selection information for index 0, 1 or 2 is sent. When there are four available blocks as shown in FIG. 7 (e), selection information for index 0, 1, 2, or 3 is sent.

  FIG. 7 shows an example in which the available blocks are indexed in the order of left, upper left, upper, upper right of the encoding target block as an example of how to index available blocks. In other words, the used blocks are indexed with sequential numbers except for the unused blocks.

  Next, the code table of the selection information 17 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The selection information encoding unit 112 switches the code table according to the number of usable blocks (S202). As described above, the selection information 17 needs to be encoded when there are two or more usable blocks.

  First, when there are two usable blocks, the indexes need 0 and 1, and the code table is a table shown on the left side of FIG. When there are three usable blocks, the indexes 0, 1, and 2 are required, and the code table is a table shown in the center of FIG. When there are four usable blocks, 0, 1, 2, and 3 are required as indexes, and the code table is a table shown on the right side of FIG. These code tables are switched according to the number of available blocks.

  Next, a selection information encoding method will be described.

  FIG. 9 shows an outline of the syntax structure used in this embodiment. The syntax mainly consists of three parts, and High Level Syntax 801 is packed with syntax information of higher layers above the slice. In Slice Level Syntax 804, necessary information is specified for each slice, and in Macroblock Level Syntax 807, variable length encoded error signals and mode information required for each macroblock are specified.

  Each of these syntaxes is composed of a more detailed syntax. High Level Syntax 801 is composed of sequences such as Sequence parameter set syntax 802 and Picture parameter set syntax 803, and syntax of picture level. Slice Level Syntax 804 includes Slice header syntax 405, Slice data syntax 406, and the like. Furthermore, the Macroblock Level Syntax 807 includes a macroblock layer syntax 808, a macroblock prediction syntax 809, and the like.

  The syntax information required in this embodiment is macroblock layer syntax 808, and the syntax will be described below.

  Available_block_num shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b) indicates the number of available blocks. When this is 2 or more, selection information needs to be encoded. Mvcopy_flag is a flag indicating whether or not to use a motion vector of an available block in motion compensation prediction. When the available block is 1 or more and this flag is 1, the available block of motion compensated prediction Motion vectors can be used. Furthermore, mv_select_info indicates selection information, and the code table is as described above.

  FIG. 10A shows a syntax in the case where selection information is encoded after mb_type. For example, when the block size is only 16 × 16, mvcopy_flag and mv_select_info do not need to be encoded if mb_type is other than 16 × 16. If mb_type is 16x16, mvcopy_flag and mv_select_info are encoded.

  FIG. 10B shows the syntax when the selection information is encoded before mb_type. For example, if mvcopy_flag is 1, it is not necessary to encode mb_type. If mv_copy_flag is 0, mb_type is encoded.

  In the present embodiment, the encoding scan order may be any order. For example, the present invention can be applied to a line scan or a Z scan.

  A video decoding apparatus according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The encoded data 18 output from the moving image encoding apparatus in FIG. 1 is input to the demultiplexer 201 of the moving image decoding apparatus as encoded data 21 to be decoded through a storage system or a transmission system. A demultiplexer (demultiplexer) 201 demultiplexes the encoded data 21 and separates the encoded data 21 into quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information and selection information. The output terminal of the demultiplexer 201 is connected to the variable length decoder 202. The variable length decoder 202 decodes the quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information and selection information. The output terminal of the variable length decoder 202 is connected to the adder 206 by the inverse quantizer 204 and the inverse orthogonal transformer 205. The inverse quantizer 204 inversely quantizes the quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information and converts it into orthogonal transform coefficients. The inverse orthogonal transformer 205 performs inverse orthogonal transform on the orthogonal transform coefficient to generate a prediction error signal. The adder 206 adds the prediction error signal to the prediction image signal from the prediction image generator 207 to generate a moving image signal.

  The predicted image generator 207 includes a predictor 208 and a selection unit 209. The selection unit 209 selects a motion vector based on the selection information 23 decoded by the selection information decoder 203 of the variable length decoder 202 and sends the selected motion vector 25 to the predictor 208. The predictor 208 performs motion compensation on the reference image stored in the frame memory 210 using the motion vector 25 to generate a predicted image.

  The operation of the moving picture decoding apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The encoded data 21 is demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 201 (S31), decoded by the variable length decoder 202, and quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information 22 is generated (S32). Further, the selection information decoder 203 checks the state of the adjacent block adjacent to the decoding target block, and the selection information of the encoding device according to the number of usable blocks that are adjacent encoded blocks having motion vectors. Similar to the encoding unit 112, the code table is switched as shown in FIG. Thereby, the selection information 23 is output (S33).

  The quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information 22, which is information output from the variable decoder 202, is the information output from the selection information decoding unit 203 to the inverse quantizer 204, and the selection information 23 is selection unit 209. Sent to each.

  The quantized orthogonal transform coefficient information 22 is inversely quantized by the inverse quantizer 204 (S34), and then inversely orthogonally transformed by the inverse orthogonal transformer 205 (S35). Thereby, the prediction error signal 24 is obtained. The adder 206 adds the prediction image signal to the prediction error signal 24 to reproduce the moving image signal 26 (S36). The reproduced moving image signal 27 is stored in the frame memory 210 (S37).

  The predicted image generator 207 generates a predicted image 26 using the motion vector of an available block that is a decoded block that is adjacent to the decoding target block and has a motion vector, selected by the decoded selection information 23. To do. The selection unit 209 investigates the state of the adjacent block, and obtains a motion vector used for motion compensation prediction from the available block information of the adjacent block and the selection information 23 decoded by the selection information decoding unit 203. In the same manner as the selection unit 110, one is selected from adjacent blocks. A predicted image 26 is generated by the predictor 208 using the selected motion vector 25 and is sent to the adder 206 to obtain a moving image signal 27.

  According to the present invention, by encoding selection information according to the number of available blocks, selection information can be sent using an appropriate encoding table, and additional information of selection information can be reduced. .

  Further, by using the motion vector of the available block for the motion compensation prediction of the encoding target block, it is possible to reduce additional information related to the motion vector information.

  Furthermore, the motion vector calculation method is not fixed, but by selecting an appropriate one from the available blocks, the degree of freedom of motion vector calculation is higher than in the direct mode.

  The method of the present invention described in the embodiment of the present invention can be executed by a computer, and as a program that can be executed by the computer, a magnetic disk (flexible disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM). , DVD, etc.) and storage media such as semiconductor memory can also be distributed.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  The apparatus of the present invention is used for image compression processing in communication, storage and broadcasting.

Claims (5)

A video encoding device that performs motion compensation predictive encoding of a video,
An obtaining unit that obtains an available block that is a block having a motion vector and the number of the available blocks from an encoded block adjacent to the encoding target block;
A selection unit for selecting one selected block from the available blocks;
A selection information encoding unit that encodes selection information that identifies the selection block;
An image encoding unit that performs motion compensation prediction encoding of the encoding target block using a motion vector of the selected block;
A video encoding device comprising:   The moving picture encoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection information encoding unit does not encode the selection information when the number of usable blocks is one.   3. The moving image according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit does not select the usable block when the block having the motion vector that is the encoded block has a specific block size. 4. Encoding device.   The moving image encoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection information encoding unit encodes the selection information determined according to the number of usable blocks. A video encoding method for performing motion compensation predictive encoding of a video,
Obtaining an available block that is a block having a motion vector and the number of the available blocks from an encoded block adjacent to the encoding target block;
Selecting one selected block from the available blocks;
Encoding selection information identifying the selected block;
Using the motion vector of the selected block to perform motion compensation predictive coding on the encoding target block;
A video encoding method comprising:

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