End-to-end distortion estimation for H.264 with unconstrained intra prediction

This paper presents a macroblock-level algorithm to estimate the end-to-end distortion of H.264/AVC-based video transmission that allows unrestricted intra prediction. Some fast approximations are developed to reduce its complexity so that it can be used in real-time applications. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of the algorithm and the impact of the unconstrained intra prediction.