Real-Time De-Interlacing for H.264-Coded HD Videos

It is very challenging to de-interlace high-definition videos in real time, as both good visual quality and low complexity should be fulfilled, which, however, are conflicting. To resolve the conflict, a syntax-based de-interlacer is proposed specially for H.264-coded videos, by which the values of the syntax elements (SE) in H.264 bitstreams, such as macroblock-type, intra-prediction modes, and motion vectors (MV), are used to detect edge and motion, estimate the MV, and select proper local de-interlacing algorithms accordingly. A verification mechanism is also proposed to make sure the referred SE values are reliable. The experimental results show that the proposed de-interlacer provides better visual quality than common ones and can de-interlace 1080i sequences in real time on PCs.