Fast mode decision for multiview video coding

In the draft of multi-view coding (MVC), variable size motion estimation and disparity estimation are employed to select the best coding mode for each macroblock. These techniques achieve the highest possible coding efficiency, but they result in extremely large computation complexity which obstructs MVC from practical application. This paper proposes a fast mode size decision algorithm for MVC in inter-frame coding. It makes use of the mode distribution correlation between neighbor views to deduct the executions of unnecessary modes. Experimental results show that the proposed fast mode decision algorithm reduces the computational complexity significantly with negligible coding efficiency.