METHOD AND TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT FOR VIDEO ENCODING AND DECODING

1 . A method comprising:

decoding a coding unit being coded with palette coding, comprising

decoding an indication of a scan order of the palette mode;

decoding mode information for at least one pixel within the coding unit, and

if said mode information indicates a copy mode,

setting a decoded pixel value based on indicated scan order; or

if said mode information indicates that more than one pixel shares a certain value,

decoding an indication to determine the number of the pixels sharing the value and indication for a reconstruction value of number of pixels; and

determining corresponding group of pixels by using the scan order of the palette mode and the determined number of pixels, and

setting the values of the pixels in the corresponding group of pixels to the reconstructed value; or

if said mode information indicates that a palette index is used for one pixel,

decoding an indication for a reconstruction value of a pixel, and

determining corresponding pixel by using the scan order of the palette mode, and

setting the value of the corresponding pixel to the reconstructed value.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scan order indicates a horizontal scan from left to right, wherein the method comprises

setting the scan order for the coding unit as horizontal raster scan;

decoding mode indications for pixels starting from a top-left pixel;

if the mode indication is an above copy mode,

setting the reconstruction of the pixel as the reconstruction value of the pixel directly above the current pixel;

if the mode indication is a run-length mode,

signalling a pixel value and an associated run value;

if the mode indication is escape mode,

signalling the value of the current pixel.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scan order indicates a vertical scan from top to bottom, wherein the method comprises

setting scan order for the coding unit as vertical raster scan;

decoding mode indications for pixels starting from a top-left pixel;

if the mode indication is left copy mode,

setting the reconstruction of the pixel as the reconstruction value of the pixel directly left of the current pixel;

if the mode is run-length mode,

signalling a pixel value and associated run value;

if the mode indication is escape mode,

signalling the value of the current pixel.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising decoding an indication for the scan order for said coding unit.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising decoding an indication for the scan order for slice header.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scan order indicates one of the following scan types: horizontal from right to left, vertical from bottom to up, diagonal or spiral from the center of the block.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scan order indicates more than one scan type within a coding unit, wherein the method comprises signaling scan types at a sub-coding unit level.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising coding the scan type indication predictively using information from neighboring coding units.

9 . An apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

decode a coding unit being coded with palette coding, comprising

decode an indication of a scan order of the palette mode;

decode mode information for at least one pixel within the coding unit, and

if said mode information indicates a copy mode,

set a decoded pixel value based on indicated scan order; or

if said mode information indicates that more than one pixel shares a certain value,

decode an indication to determine the number of the pixels sharing the value and indication for a reconstruction value of number of pixels; and

determine a corresponding group of pixels by using the scan order of the palette mode and the determined number of pixels, and

set the values of the pixels in the corresponding group of pixels to the reconstructed value; or

if said mode information indicates that a palette index is used for one pixel,

decode an indication for a reconstruction value of a pixel, and

determine corresponding pixel by using the scan order of the palette mode, and

set the value of the corresponding pixel to the reconstructed value.

10 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the scan order indicates a horizontal scan from left to right, wherein the apparatus further comprising computer program code to cause the apparatus to

set the scan order for the coding unit as horizontal raster scan;

decode mode indications for pixels starting from a top-left pixel;

if the mode indication is an above copy mode,

to set the reconstruction of the pixel as the reconstruction value of the pixel directly above the current pixel;

if the mode indication is a run-length mode,

to signal a pixel value and an associated run value;

if the mode indication is escape mode,

to signal the value of the current pixel.

11 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the scan order indicates a vertical scan from top to bottom, wherein the apparatus further comprising computer program code to cause the apparatus to

set scan order for the coding unit as vertical raster scan;

decode mode indications for pixels starting from a top-left pixel;

if the mode indication is left copy mode,

to set the reconstruction of the pixel as the reconstruction value of the pixel directly left of the current pixel;

if the mode is run-length mode,

to signal a pixel value and associated run value;

if the mode indication is escape mode,

to signal the value of the current pixel.

12 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising computer program code to cause the apparatus to decode an indication for the scan order for said coding unit.

13 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising computer program code to cause the apparatus to decode an indication for the scan order for slice header.

14 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the scan order indicates one of the following scan types: horizontal from right to left, vertical from bottom to up, diagonal or spiral from the center of the block.

15 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the scan order indicates more than one scan type within a coding unit, wherein the method comprises signaling scan types at a sub-coding unit level.

16 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising computer program code to cause the apparatus to code the scan type indication predictively using information from neighboring coding units.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform

decoding a coding unit being coded with palette coding, comprising

decoding an indication of a scan order of the palette mode;

decoding mode information for at least one pixel within the coding unit, and

if said mode information indicates a copy mode,

setting a decoded pixel value based on indicated scan order; or

if said mode information indicates that more than one pixel shares a certain value,

decoding an indication to determine the number of the pixels sharing the value and indication for a reconstruction value of number of pixels; and

determining a corresponding group of pixels by using the scan order of the palette mode and the determined number of pixels, and

setting the values of the pixels in the corresponding group of pixels to the reconstructed value; or

if said mode information indicates that a palette index is used for one pixel,

decoding an indication for a reconstruction value of a pixel and

determining a corresponding pixel by using the scan order of the palette mode, and

setting the value of the corresponding pixel to the reconstructed value.