JPH11136678A - Coding method and coder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coding method and a coder by which control accuracy of delicate image quality is improved together with code amount control accuracy even in the case of an application such as still image coding that uses only one intra-image of the MPEG(moving picture experts group). SOLUTION: A fine quantization scale obtained by a code quantity controller 21 is fed to a fine quantization scale converter 22, which cross-references the 'fine quantization scale' and 'quantization matrix and quantization scale' and gives the 'quantization matrix and quantization scale' to a quantizer 13. The quantizer 13 divides a DCT(discrete cosine transformation) coefficient from a DCT device 12 by the product of the quantization matrix an the quantization scale to conduct quantization by rounding off or rounding the quotient. An effective quantization width that interpolates values of the quantization scale is obtained by using the fine quantization scale through the use of a combination of the quantization matrix and the quantization scale.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an encoding method and an encoding apparatus, and more particularly, to an encoding method and an encoding apparatus for encoding image data such as a color still image and a color moving image and recording the encoded image data on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example will be described using the MPEG1 moving picture coding standard. MPEG was established in 1988 by ISO /
IEC JTC1 / SC2 (International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee / Technical Committee 2, current SC2
This is the abbreviation of the name of the organization (Moving Pictures Experts Group) that examines the moving picture coding standard established in 9).
MPEG1 (MPEG Phase 1) is a standard for storage media of about 1.5 Mbps, and is used for JPEG for the purpose of still image coding and for low transfer rates of videoconferencing and videophone of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). For compressing moving images of H.264. 261 (CCITT SG
XV, standardized by the current ITU-T SG15) and introduced a new technology for storage media. These are the August 1993 ISO / I
EC 11172 is established.

[0003] MPEG1 is created by combining several technologies. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional encoding device. In the figure, the input image data is subtracted by the motion compensated image data from the motion compensated predictor 11 by a subtracter 10 to obtain differential image data in which the time redundancy is reduced. There are three modes of the motion compensation prediction from the past, the future, and both. These are macroblocks MB of 16 pixels × 16 pixels.
It can be used by switching every time.

[0004] The prediction direction is determined by the picture type given to the input image. P-pictures have two modes of prediction from the past and independent encoding of the MB without prediction. Also, B-pictures have four modes for provisional prediction, prediction from the past, prediction from both, and independent encoding. And all MB
Is an I picture that is independently encoded. In the motion compensation, a motion vector is detected with half-pel accuracy by performing pattern matching for each MB, and the motion vector is predicted after shifting by a motion sentence. The motion vector has a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, and indicates an MC (Motion Com
(Pensation) mode and transmitted as MB additional information.

[0005] The difference image data output from the subtractor 10 in FIG.
DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) is an orthogonal transform that discretely transforms an integral transform using a cosine function as an integral kernel into a finite space. In MPEG, an MB is divided into four parts, and an 8 × 8 D
Two-dimensional DCT is performed on the CT block.

Generally, since a video signal has many low-frequency components and few high-frequency components, when DCT is performed, coefficients concentrate on low frequencies. The quantized image data (DCT coefficients) are quantized by the quantizer 13. In the quantization, a DCT coefficient is quantized using a value obtained by multiplying an 8 × 8 two-dimensional frequency called a quantization matrix by a visual characteristic and a value called a quantization scale for multiplying the whole by a scalar as a quantization value. Divide by value. When inverse quantization is performed by the decoder, a value close to the original DCT coefficient is obtained by multiplying by the quantization value.

[0007] The quantized image data is supplied to an inverse quantizer 14.
Is inversely quantized by the inverse DCT unit 15,
Further, after temporarily stored in the image memory 16, the motion compensation predictor 11 uses it as a reference decoded image for calculating a difference image.

On the other hand, the quantized image data taken out by the quantizer 13 is subjected to variable-length coding by the VLC unit 17. The direct current (DC) component of the quantized value is DPCM (Differential Pulse Code) which is one of predictive coding.
e Modulation). Further, the Huffman code which performs a zigzag scan of an alternating current (AC) component from a low frequency band to a high frequency band, assigns a run length of zero and an effective coefficient value to one event, and assigns a code having a short code length to a code having a high appearance probability. Is performed.

The variable-length coded data is stored in a temporary buffer 19 and output as coded data at a predetermined transfer rate. The generated code amount of the output data for each macro block is transmitted to the code amount controller 18, and the difference between the generated code amount and the target code amount is fed back to the quantizer 13 to control the code amount. . The feedback is reflected on the quantization scale, and a specific code amount control method is as follows.

[0010] Since the MPEG performs variable length coding, the output bit stream also has a variable generated code amount per unit time. However, many applications require transmission at a fixed rate (CBR: Constant Bit Rate). Therefore, in MPEG, a virtual decoder model called VBV (Video Buffering Verifier) connected to an encoder output has been devised as a virtual decoder model for defining the constraint condition for the bit stream.

In this model, the encoder and the VBV operate completely synchronously, and the decoding of each picture is performed instantaneously, and the stored data is similarly instantaneously removed from the VBV buffer. . In encoding, the buffer may be controlled without underflow or overflow.

The details of this are described in ISO-11172.
-2, ISO-13818-2, H.C. 262. To increase the generated code amount, the quantization scale is reduced, and to reduce the code amount, the quantization scale is increased. Using this principle, a method of controlling the quantization scale based on, for example, the occupancy of the VBV buffer can be considered.

However, if the quantization scale is increased, the image quality is degraded. In addition, the P picture is predicted from the immediately preceding I or P picture, and the B picture is predicted from the I and P pictures temporally on both sides. Because of the relationship
When the I picture deteriorates, the other pictures also deteriorate in conjunction with it. Therefore, the picture quality of the I picture is the most important, and the codes must be sufficiently distributed.

In general, the code amount allocation of I: P: B is basically about 6: 3: 2, such as 8: 2: 1 for a scene with a small motion, and 4: 4: for a large motion.
3 and so on. An example of a system for realizing the overall rate control while considering the code amount distribution for these pictures will be described. This is an algorithm used as a test model in the standardization of MPEG2.

(A) Step 1 Step 1 is a step of allocating bits to each picture.
c), the amount of code allocated to each picture in
A certain weight is assigned to a picture which has not been encoded in P yet. That is, the product of the average quantization scale used when encoding each picture and the generated code amount is
Assuming that the value is constant for each picture type as long as the screen does not change, the parameters Xi, Xp and Xb are updated by the following equation for each of the I, P and B picture types.

Xi = Si × Qi Xp = Sp × Qp Xb = Sb × Qb Here, Xi, Xp and Xb are called a global complexity measure of I picture, P picture and B picture. The parameter is defined as the product of the previous encoding result (the amount of generated code) Si, Sp, and Sb of the same picture type and the average quantization scale Qi, Qp, and Qb of the immediately preceding same picture type.

The ideal picture quality is that the ratio Kp to the quantization scale of the P picture is 1.0 when the quantization scale of the I picture is used as a reference, and the ratio of the quantization scale to the quantization scale of the B picture is 1.0. Assume that this is achieved when Kb is 1.4. According to the above assumption, the I picture in the GOP, P
Code amount Ti, T assigned to picture and B picture
p and Tb are values shown by the following equations.

[0018]

(Equation 1) Here, Np and Nb are the numbers of uncoded pictures of P pictures and B pictures in the GOP.

Based on the code amount thus obtained, every time the coding progresses in the GOP, the code amount R assigned to the uncoded picture in the GOP is updated based on the following equation. You.

R = R-Si, p, b (b) Step 2 In step 2, in order to make the allocated code amount (Ti, Tp, Tb) of each picture allocated in step 1 coincide with the actual generated code amount, While adding the generated code amount for each MB, the difference between the target code amount and the predicted target code amount in the middle is fed back to the quantization scale in MB units.

Dji = d0i + B _j−1 − (Ti (j−1) / MB_cnt) djp = d0p + B _j−1 − (Tp (j−1) / MB_cnt) djb = d0b + B _j−1 − (Tb (j−1) ) / MB_cnt) where d0i, d0p, and d0b are the initial occupancy of each virtual buffer, B _j-1 is the amount of generated code from the head of each picture to the j-1st MB, and MB_cnt is the MB in one picture. Is a number.

Next, a quantization scale Q _j for the j-th MB is obtained by the following equation.

Q _j = dj × 31 / rr = 2 × bit_rate / picture_rater is a parameter for determining the response speed of feedback.

[0024]

In the conventional encoding method, the quantization scale is controlled from 1 to 31 as described above. This is because, in the MPEG standard, the quantization scale is specified as 5 bits.
This is because the value that can be actually selected is an integer value from 1 to 31.

Therefore, in an application in which the control of the code amount must be made very fine in the past, the coarseness of the quantization scale directly leads to the code amount control accuracy, which causes a reduction in control ability. I have. Further, in applications using only one MPEG intra image, such as still image coding, the control accuracy of delicate image quality as well as the code amount control accuracy is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an encoding method and an encoding apparatus capable of improving code amount control accuracy.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a code capable of improving the control accuracy of fine image quality as well as the code amount control accuracy even in an application such as still image coding using only one MPEG intra image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an encoding method and an encoding device.

[0028]

In order to achieve the above object, an encoding method and an encoding apparatus according to the present invention receive a generated code amount at the time of encoding and reduce a predetermined value of a quantization scale to a plurality of values. The subdivided fine quantization scale is output as a value corresponding to the difference value between the generated code amount and the target code amount, and the quantization matrix and the quantization scale corresponding to the output fine quantization scale are output to the quantizer. The quantization data is input by dividing the input data of the quantizer by the product of the quantization matrix and the quantization scale.

According to the present invention, by using the fine quantization scale that is used by using a combination of the quantization scale and the quantization matrix, it is possible to obtain an effective quantization width that compensates between the values of the quantization scale.

The above-mentioned fine quantization scale is a quantization scale obtained by subdividing the quantization matrix of one part of the quantization scale into a plurality of pieces, and it is necessary that the fine quantization scale of the image signal has many low-frequency components and few high-frequency components. Desirable as a quantization scale.

[0031]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an encoding method and an encoding apparatus according to the present invention. 3, the same components as those of FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The embodiment of FIG.
2 is provided.

In FIG. 1, data which has been subjected to variable length coding by the VLC unit 17 is temporarily stored in a buffer 19,
It is output as encoded data at a predetermined transfer rate. The generated code amount for each macro block of the output data is supplied to a code amount controller 21 where a difference value between the generated code amount and a target code amount is obtained, and further based on the difference value. A fine quantization scale, which will be described later, is obtained, and the fine quantization scale is supplied to the fine quantization scale converter 22, and is converted into a quantization matrix and a quantization scale, and is then fed back to the quantizer 13 to be encoded. Control. The fine quantization scale is a subdivision of the conventional quantization scale.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the relationship between the fine quantization scale, the quantization matrix, the quantization scale, and the effective quantization width. Here, the smaller one of the quantization values is emphasized and finely divided. The fine quantization scale is realized by a combination of a quantization matrix and a quantization scale. The quantization matrix is a matrix of values weighted by the visual characteristics of 8 pixels × 8 pixels used in MPEG, and the DCT coefficient is divided by the product of the quantization matrix and the quantization scale, and is rounded down or rounded. Perform quantization.

The quantization defined by MPEG is realized by the following equation.

[U, v] = 8 × c [u, v] // (Qsca
le × matrix [u, v]) Here, u and v indicate horizontal and vertical addresses in the quantization matrix, and take values from 0 to 7, respectively. [U, v] is image data after quantization,
c [u, v] is the image data before quantization, Qsca
le is a value defined by MPEG from 1 to 31, ma
trix [u, v] indicates a quantization matrix defined by MPEG with 8 rows and 8 columns.

In this embodiment, eleven types of quantization matrices are used. Tables 1, 2 and 3 show these 11 types of quantization matrices.

[0037]

[Table 1]

[0038]

[Table 2]

[0039]

[Table 3] FIG. 2 shows a specific combination of the quantization matrix and the quantization scale and the relative effective quantization value of the present embodiment when the value of the conventional quantization scale 1 is 1.0. An algorithm example of code amount control using the fine quantization scale using this will be described below. Step 1 is the same as the conventional one, so the description thereof is omitted, and the algorithm of step 2 will be described below.

In step 2, in order to make the allocated code amount (Ti, Tp, Tb) of each picture allocated in step 1 coincide with the actual generated code amount, the target code amount is added while adding the generated code amount for each MB. And the difference from the predicted target code amount in the middle is fed back to the quantization scale in MB units.

Dji = d0i + B _j−1 − (Ti (j−1) / MB_cnt) djp = d0p + B _j−1 − (Tp (j−1) / MB_cnt) djb = d0b + B _j−1 − (Tb (j−1) ) / MB_cnt) where d0i, d0p, and d0b are the initial occupancy of each virtual buffer, B _j-1 is the amount of generated code from the head of each picture to the j-1st MB, and MB_cnt is the MB in one picture. Is a number.

Next, a fine quantization scale Q _j for the j-th MB is obtained by the following equation.

Q _j = dj × 42 / rr = 2 × bit_rate / picture_rater is a parameter for determining the response speed of feedback.

The fine quantization scale Q _j obtained by the code amount controller 21 is sent to the fine quantization scale converter 22. The fine quantization scale converter 22 is a “fine quantization scale” shown in FIG. 2 and Tables 1, 2, and 3.
And a “quantization matrix, quantization scale”, and supplies the “quantization matrix, quantization scale” to the quantizer 13. In FIG. 2, the numerical values of the quantization matrices are numbers indicating the type of the quantization matrix among the 11 types of quantization matrices shown in Tables 1 to 3.

The quantizer 13 is a DCT from the DCT unit 12.
The coefficient is divided by the product of the quantization matrix and the quantization scale, and the quantization is performed by rounding down or rounding. The quantization matrix is multiplexed together with the data output from the VLC unit 17 by a multiplexing device (not shown) together with a picture header or the like, and is output as encoded data.

According to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the quantization matrix of the quantization scale 1 is 11
The coding is made possible by dividing the steps into effective quantization widths other than integer values such as 0.125, 1.25, and 2.5. As a result, the conventional quantization scale having only steps 1 to 31 has been expanded to 42 steps as shown in FIG.

These can be performed within the MPEG standard. For example, in MPEG1, the quantization matrix is
It can be changed for each OP. Therefore, MPEG
In the case of the moving image in No. 1, when the code amount control accuracy is changed using the present embodiment, a quantization matrix is obtained by using an I picture, taking a GOP configuration in a syntax, and transmitting a sequence header. Can be changed.

In MPEG2, it can be changed for each picture. Therefore, in the case of a moving image in MPEG2, the quantization matrix can be changed by transmitting a code (QUANT MATRIX EXTENSION) indicating a matrix change specified in MPEG2 for each picture.

In the above embodiment, the quantization matrix of one portion of the quantization scale is divided into 11 types of quantization matrices. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of types may be used. Any number of quantization scales other than 1 may be used as the quantization scale portion to be divided into a plurality of types of quantization matrices.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since a fine quantization scale used by using a combination of a quantization scale and a quantization matrix is used to obtain an effective quantization width that compensates between the values of the quantization scale to control the code amount, MPEG Even if the quantization scale is specified as 5 bits as in
Quantization equivalent to selecting between integer values of the above values is possible, and the code amount control accuracy can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, even in an application using only one MPEG intra image, such as still image coding, the control accuracy of the delicate image quality can be improved as well as the code amount control accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a fine quantization scale and a quantization matrix, a quantization scale, and an effective quantization width according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 12 DCT unit 13 Quantizer 17 VLC unit 19 Buffer 21 Code amount controller 22 Fine quantization scale converter

Claims (4)

[Claims] After dividing input image data into blocks for each predetermined pixel and performing orthogonal transformation, the quantizer uses an effective quantization width related to a product of a quantization scale and a quantization matrix. And quantized data is subjected to variable-length encoding, and the quantization scale generated based on the difference between the generated code amount and the target code amount during encoding is fed back to the quantizer. In the encoding method of performing the code amount control, receiving the generated code amount at the time of the encoding, a fine quantization scale obtained by subdividing a predetermined value of the quantization scale into a plurality,
The quantizer outputs a value corresponding to a difference value between the generated code amount and the target code amount, and inputs the quantization matrix and the quantization scale corresponding to the output fine quantization scale to the quantizer. Encoding data obtained by dividing input data of the quantizer by a product of a quantization matrix and a quantization scale. 2. The encoding method according to claim 1, wherein the fine quantization scale is a quantization scale obtained by subdividing a quantization matrix of one part of the quantization scale into a plurality. 3. An orthogonal transform coefficient output unit that divides input image data into blocks for each predetermined pixel, and performs orthogonal transform to output orthogonal transform coefficients. A quantizer that performs quantization with an effective quantization width, and variable-length encoding that outputs variable-length encoded output data of the quantizer and outputs encoded data, and outputs a generated code amount at the time of encoding. A code amount for receiving the generated code amount and outputting a fine quantization scale obtained by subdividing the predetermined value of the quantization scale into a plurality of values as a value corresponding to a difference value between the generated code amount and the target code amount. A controller, receives the fine quantization scale output from the code amount controller, and inputs the quantization matrix and the quantization scale corresponding to the input fine quantization scale to the quantizer as the external signal. And this Encoding apparatus characterized by having a Luo quantization matrix and fine quantization scale converter for quantizing by dividing the input data of the quantizer by the product of the quantization scale. 4. The code amount controller outputs a fine quantization scale obtained by subdividing a quantization matrix of one portion of the quantization scale into a plurality of pieces.
An encoding device according to claim 1.