Method and apparatus for improved entropy encoding and decoding

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a video encoder for encoding at least a block in a picture by transforming a residue of the block to obtain transform coefficients, quantizing the transform coefficients to obtain quantized transform coefficients, and entropy coding the quantized transform coefficients, wherein the quantized transform coefficients are encoded using a first syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a last non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than or equal to a first specified non-zero value and a second syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than a second non-zero specified value, wherein the first specified non-zero value is selected from among a plurality of values, and said selected value remains fixed for the block.

2. In a video encoder, a method, comprising:

encoding at least a block in a picture by transforming a residue of the block to obtain transform coefficients, quantizing the transform coefficients to obtain quantized transform coefficients, and entropy coding the quantized transform coefficients, wherein the quantized transform coefficients are encoded using a first syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a last non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than or equal to a first specified non-zero value and a second syntax element to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than a second non-zero specified value, wherein the first specified non-zero value is selected from among a plurality of values, and said selected value remains fixed for the block.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein subsequent non-zero coefficients from among the quantized transform coefficients having a value less than the specified value are encoded by encoding only the respective signs of the subsequent non-zero coefficients having the value less than the specified value.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the picture is one of a plurality of pictures comprised in a video sequence, and the specified value is adaptively selected responsive to derived statistics from previously processed blocks in the picture or in one or more other pictures from among the plurality of pictures in the video sequence.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the specified value is explicitly signaled.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the specified value is explicitly signaled at least one of a sequence level, a frame level, a slice level, and a block level.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein a level of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients is encoded by subtracting the specified value from an actual value of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients to obtain a difference value and encoding the difference value as the level, in order to reproduce the level at a corresponding decoder by adding the difference value to the specified value.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein at least a sig_flag syntax element, the flag, a last_flag syntax element, a Bin_ 1 syntax element, a level syntax element, and a sign syntax element are encoded in a same scanning order, the sig_flag syntax element for indicating whether the current one of the quantized transform coefficients has a non-zero value, the last_flag for indicating whether the current one of the quantized transform coefficients having the non-zero value is a last quantized transform coefficient having the non-zero value in the block in a given scanning order, the Bin_ 1 syntax element for indicating that an absolute value of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients has a currently unknown non-zero value, the level syntax element for indicating an absolute value of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients when the current one of the quantized transform coefficients has the absolute value greater than the specified value, and the sign syntax element for indicating a corresponding sign of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a video decoder for decoding at least a block in a picture by entropy decoding quantized transform coefficients, de-quantizing the quantized transform coefficients to obtain transform coefficients, and inverse transforming the transform coefficients to obtain a reconstructed residue of the block for use in reconstructing the block, wherein the quantized transform coefficients are decoded using a first syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a last non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than or equal to a first specified non-zero value and a second syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than a second non-zero specified value, wherein the first specified non-zero value is selected from among a plurality of values, and said selected value remains fixed for the block.

10. In a video decoder, a method, comprising:

decoding at least a block in a picture by entropy decoding quantized transform coefficients, de-quantizing the quantized transform coefficients to obtain transform coefficients, and inverse transforming the transform coefficients to obtain a reconstructed residue of the block for use in reconstructing the block, wherein the quantized transform coefficients are decoded using a first syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a last non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than or equal to a first specified non-zero value and a second syntax element that is a flag to indicate when a current one of the quantized transform coefficients being processed is a non-zero coefficient for the block having a value greater than a second non-zero specified value, wherein the first specified non-zero value is selected from among a plurality of values, and said selected value remains fixed for the block.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein subsequent non-zero coefficients from among the quantized transform coefficients having a value less than the specified value are decoded by decoding only the respective signs of the subsequent non-zero coefficients having the value less than the specified value.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the specified value is explicitly determined.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the specified value is explicitly determined from at least one of a sequence level, a frame level, a slice level, and a block level.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein a level of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients is decoded by decoding a difference value previously determined between an actual value of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients and the specified value, and adding the difference value to the specified value to obtain the level.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least a sig_flag syntax element, the flag, a last_flag syntax element, a Bin_ 1 syntax element, a level syntax element, and a sign syntax element are decoded in a same scanning order, the sig_flag syntax element for indicating whether the current one of the quantized transform coefficients has a non-zero value, the last_flag for indicating whether the current one of the quantized transform coefficients having the non-zero value is a last quantized transform coefficient having the non-zero value in the block in a given scanning order, the Bin_ 1 syntax element for indicating that an absolute value of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients has a currently unknown non-zero value, the level syntax element for indicating an absolute value of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients when the current one of the quantized transform coefficients has the absolute value greater than the specified value, and the sign syntax element for indicating a corresponding sign of the current one of the quantized transform coefficients.