Decoder-Friendly Adaptive Deblocking Filter (DF-ADF) Mode Decision in H.264/AVC

Video encoding to yield a decoder-friendly H.264 bit stream that consumes less decoding power yet with little coding efficiency degradation is investigated in this work. The energy saving of the decoder relies on the use of adaptive deblocking filters (ADF). We first propose a power consumption model for the deblocking filter. Then, the encoder performs the rate-distortion-decoder complexity optimization (RDC) to save the decoder power needed for deblocking filter operations, which is called the decoder-friendly adaptive deblocking filter (DF-ADF) mode decision. The RDC optimization framework presents a way to balance coding efficiency and the ADF decoding cost in the mode decision process. The effectiveness of the proposed DF-ADF algorithm is demonstrated by experiments with diverse video contents and bit rates.