Rate-SSIM optimization for video coding

The structural similarity (SSIM) index has been found to be a good indicator of perceived image quality. In this paper, we propose a rate-SSIM optimization scheme for mode se lection in H.264/AVC video coding. To derive the Lagrange multiplier based on the properties of input sequences, a novel reduced-reference statistical SSIM model and a source-side information combined rate model are established. The proposed method is fully standard-compatible. Experimental results demonstrate that, compared with conventional rate distortion optimization coding schemes, the proposed scheme can achieve better rate-SSIM performance and provide better visual quality.