Intra prediction versuswavelets and lapped transforms in an H.264/AVC coder

H.264/AVC is the latest video coding standard and, among other things, it uses a DCT-like transform and intra prediction modes. We are studying the possibility of replacing the modified DCT stages by lapped and wavelet transforms. Since those transforms have overlap, intra-frame prediction is not feasible, because of its block-recursive nature. Hence, intra-frame prediction is turned off. In essence, this paper contains a comparison among lapped (wavelet) transforms and linear prediction schemes, within the AVC framework. Results indicate that lapped transforms can outperform the intra prediction scheme, specially for high definition images.