IP Library › Patent Application 13924981
Patent Application
App. No. 13/924,981

Apparatus, a Method and a Computer Program for Video Coding and Decoding

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
13/924,981
Abstract

There is provided a method, apparatus and computer program product for scalable video encoding and decoding. In some embodiments, an improved method of encoding/decoding of enhancement layer pictures is introduced to enable encoding an area within an enhancement layer picture with increased quality and/or spatial resolution and with high coding efficiency. Enhancement layer sub-pictures have a size smaller than the corresponding enhancement layer pictures. They are coded with respect to the previously coded base-layer pictures or enhancement layer pictures. The enhancement information could be in the form of: increasing the fidelity of the chroma; increasing the bit-depth; increasing the quality of a region; or increasing the spatial resolution of a region.

Claims (59)

1 . A method comprising:

encoding and reconstructing a base-layer picture;

encoding and reconstructing one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures for said base-layer picture, said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures having a size smaller than a corresponding enhancement layer reconstructed picture;

reconstructing an enhancement layer picture from said reconstructed one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures, wherein samples outside the area of said reconstructed one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures is copied from the reconstructed base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the enhancement layer sub-pictures contain enhancement information to the corresponding base layer picture, the enhancement information including at least one of the following:

increasing the fidelity of the chroma of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the chroma of the corresponding base layer picture;

increasing the bit-depth of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the bit-depth of the corresponding base layer picture;

increasing the quality of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the quality of the corresponding base layer picture; or

increasing the spatial resolution of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the spatial resolution of the corresponding base layer picture.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

encoding predictively said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the base-layer picture; and

restricting the prediction process, if the enhancement layer sub-picture is coded predictively with respect to base layer, so that only the pixels within the co-located area of base layer picture are usable.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the size and the position of the enhancement layer sub-pictures is allowed to be spatially overlapping.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

converting the one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures to the same format used in the samples outside the area of said reconstructed one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures copied from the reconstructed base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture, and

merging the converted enhancement-layer picture to form a single enhancement layer picture in a reference frame buffer.

6 . An apparatus comprising:

a video encoder configured for encoding a scalable bitstream comprising a base layer and at least one enhancement layer, wherein said video encoder is further configured for

encoding and reconstructing a base-layer picture;

encoding and reconstructing one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures for said base-layer picture, said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures having a size smaller than the corresponding enhancement layer reconstructed picture;

reconstructing an enhancement layer picture from said reconstructed one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures, wherein samples outside the area of said reconstructed one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures is copied from the reconstructed base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture.

7 . The apparatus according to claims 6 , wherein

the enhancement layer sub-pictures contain enhancement information to the corresponding base layer picture, the enhancement information including at least one of the following:

increasing the fidelity of the chroma of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the chroma of the corresponding base layer picture;

increasing the bit-depth of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the bit-depth of the corresponding base layer picture;

increasing the quality of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the quality of the corresponding base layer picture; or

increasing the spatial resolution of said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures with respect to the spatial resolution of the corresponding base layer picture.

8 . The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said video encoder is further configured for

converting the one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures to the same format used in the samples outside the area of said reconstructed one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures copied from the reconstructed base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture, and

merging the converted enhancement-layer picture to form a single enhancement layer picture in a reference frame buffer.

9 . A method comprising:

decoding a base-layer picture from a scalable bitstream;

decoding, from said scalable bitstream, one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures for said base-layer picture, said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures having a size smaller than the corresponding enhancement layer reconstructed picture; and

reconstructing a decoded enhancement layer picture from said decoded one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures, wherein samples outside the area of said decoded one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures is copied from the decoded base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

placing the decoded enhancement layer sub-pictures in reference frame buffer separately from the decoded enhancement layer pictures.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

placing the decoded enhancement layer sub-pictures, but not the decoded enhancement layer pictures, in the reference frame buffer.

12 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

copying, in response to spatial scalability being used, samples outside the enhancement layer sub-picture area from an upsampled base-layer picture.

13 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

utilizing information from the base layer in decoding said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures.

14 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

converting the one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures to the same format used in the samples outside the area of said decoded one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures copied from the decoded base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture, and

merging the converted enhancement layer picture to form a single enhancement layer picture in a reference frame buffer.

15 . An apparatus comprising:

a video decoder configured for decoding a scalable bitstream comprising a base layer and at least one enhancement layer, the video decoder being configured for

decoding a base-layer picture;

decoding one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures for said base-layer picture, said one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures having a size smaller than the corresponding enhancement layer reconstructed picture; and

reconstructing a decoded enhancement layer picture from said decoded one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures, wherein samples outside the area of said decoded one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures is copied from the decoded base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture.

16 . The apparatus according to claim 15 , the video decoder being configured for

placing the decoded enhancement layer sub-pictures in reference frame buffer separately from the decoded enhancement layer pictures.

17 . The apparatus according to claim 15 , the video decoder being configured for

placing the decoded enhancement layer sub-pictures, but not the decoded enhancement layer pictures, in the reference frame buffer.

18 . The apparatus according to claim 15 , the video decoder being configured for

converting the one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures to the same format used in the samples outside the area of said decoded one or more enhancement layer sub-pictures copied from the decoded base layer picture to the reconstructed enhancement layer picture, and

merging the converted enhancement layer picture to form a single enhancement layer picture in a reference frame buffer.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 20, 2015
From: NOKIA CORPORATION
To: NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY
Reel/Frame 035215/0973 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 10, 2013
From: UGUR, KEMAL; LAINEMA, JANI; HANNUKSELA, MISKA MATIAS
To: NOKIA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 031172/0952 →