What is in this article?:
- A new, more efficient standard for MPEG systems
- HEVC
- Parallel processing
- Advanced motion compensation
Parallel processing
The picture can be divided up into a grid of rectangular tiles that can be decoded independently, with new signaling allowing for multi-threaded decode. This supports a new decoder structure called Wavefront Parallel Processing (WPP). With WPP, the picture is partitioned into rows of treeblocks, which allow decoding and prediction using data from multiple partitions. This picture structure allows parallel decoding of rows of treeblocks, with as many processors as the picture contains treeblock rows. The staggered start of processing looks like a wave front when represented graphically, hence the name.
Four different Inverse DCT
Transform sizes are specified with HEVC: 4 x 4, 8 x 8, 16 x 16, and 32 x 32. Additionally, 4 x 4 intra-coded Luma blocks are transformed using a new Discrete Sine Transform (DST). Unlike AVC, columns are transformed first, followed by rows, and coding units can be hierarchically split (quad tree) all the way down to 4 x 4 regions. This allows encoders to adaptively assign transform blocks that minimize the occurrence of high-frequency coefficients. The availability of different transform types and sizes adds efficiency while reducing blocking artifacts.
A new de-blocking filter, similar to that of AVC, operates only on edges that are on the block grid. Furthermore, all vertical edges of the entire picture are filtered first, followed by the horizontal edges. After the de-blocking filter, HEVC provides two new optional filters: Sample Adaptive Offset (SAO) and Adaptive Loop Filter (ALF). In the SAO filter, the entire picture is treated as a hierarchical quad tree. Within each sub-quadrant in the quad tree, the filter can be used by transmitting offset values that can correspond either to the intensity band of pixel values (band offset) or to the difference compared to neighboring pixels (edge offset). ALF is designed to minimize the coding errors of the decoded frame compared to the original one, yielding a much more faithful reproduction.
