An Efficient Fast Inter Mode Decision Algorithm for H.264/AVC

An efficient fast inter mode decision algorithm for the baseline H.264/AVC video coding is proposed in this paper. The main idea of the algorithm is to reduce the number of candidate modes for rate distortion optimization (RDO) by using early mode detection in four different levels, viz. SKIP mode detection, type detection at macroblock-level, type detection at submacroblock-level and intra modes detection. In addition, the correlation of cost of current MB and the one of previous frame, as well as the cost´s monotonous property are both used to help the mode decision. Compared to JM8.6 reference software, our algorithm can save encoding time 71.743% on average with negligible PSNR loss, which is very helpful for H.264/AVC inter frame. encoding.