H.264 video coding with multiple weighted prediction models

Weighted prediction is a video coding tool to encode scenes with brightness variations. However, no single WP model works well for all types of brightness variations. In this paper, a novel single reference frame multiple WP models (SRefMWP) scheme is proposed to facilitate the use of multiple WP models in different macroblocks of the current frame even when they are predicted from the same reference. It provides this feature by making a new arrangement of the multiple frame buffers in multiple reference frame motion estimation. Experimental results show that the proposed SRefMWP can improve prediction in scenes with different types of brightness variations, and even benefit to scenes that contain local brightness variation.