Method and system for video picture intra-prediction estimation

1. A method for video picture intra-prediction estimation, the method comprising:

accessing four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks by an intra-prediction estimation device, ‘N’ being an integer value, the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks comprising luma-related pixels, and the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks collectively configuring a ‘2N×2N’ pixel block of a video picture;

accessing a first pre-determined number of candidate luma intra-prediction modes for each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks by the intra-prediction estimation device, a candidacy of the luma intra-prediction modes being determined based on a predefined measure;

identifying, with the intra-prediction estimation device, a presence of one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks; and

performing, by the intra-prediction estimation device, one of:

selecting a principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes based on identifying the presence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks, and

limiting a partitioning size to a ‘N×N’ pixel block size for a portion of the video picture corresponding to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block subsequent to identifying an absence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predefined measure is one of a sum of absolute differences (SAD) cost and a sum of absolute transform differences (SATD) cost.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein if a presence of a luma intra-prediction mode from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that is common to each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks is identified, then the luma intra-prediction mode is selected as the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein if a presence of two or more luma intra-prediction modes among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common to each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks is identified, then a luma intra-prediction mode is selected from among the two or more luma intra-prediction modes as the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block based on a rate distortion optimization (RDO) cost associated with each of the two or more luma intra-prediction modes.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing by the intra-prediction estimation device, if the presence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of two or three ‘N×N’ pixel blocks from among the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks is identified:

associating the one or more luma intra-prediction modes with remaining pixel blocks from among the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks;

computing an RDO cost for each of one or more luma intra-prediction modes for each of the remaining pixel blocks; and

selecting a luma intra-prediction mode from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes as the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block based on the RDO cost associated with each of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

accessing four pixel blocks comprising chroma-related pixels by the intra-prediction estimation device, the four pixel blocks collectively configuring a chroma pixel block corresponding to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block;

accessing a second pre-determined number of candidate chroma intra-prediction modes for each of the four pixel blocks by the intra-prediction estimation device, a candidacy of the chroma intra-prediction modes being determined based on the predefined measure;

identifying, with the intra-prediction estimation device, a presence of one or more chroma intra-prediction modes that are common from among the candidate chroma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four pixel blocks; and

selecting a principal chroma intra-prediction mode for the chroma pixel block based on identifying the presence of the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising identifying a presence of the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block from among the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes by the intra-prediction estimation device, wherein the presence of principal luma intra-prediction mode is identified subsequent to identifying the presence of one or more chroma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate chroma intra-prediction modes.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein if the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block is identified to be present from among the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes, then the principal chroma intra-prediction mode is selected from among the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes based on an RDO cost associated with each of the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising performing by the intra-prediction estimation device, if the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block is identified to be absent from among the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes:

associating the principal luma intra-prediction mode with each of the four pixel blocks; and

selecting the principal chroma intra-prediction mode from among the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes and the principal luma intra-prediction mode based on an RDO cost associated with each of the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes and the principal luma intra-prediction mode.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein a pixel block adjacent to the chroma pixel block is configured to receive adjusted reconstructed data for performing chroma intra-prediction estimation if a pixel block size corresponding to the chroma pixel block is chosen as the partitioning size for a portion of the video picture corresponding to the chroma pixel block.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing by the intra-prediction estimation device subsequent to selecting the principal luma intra-prediction mode:

computing a first partitioning cost associated with the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block based on the selected principal luma intra-prediction mode;

comparing the first partitioning cost associated with the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block with a second partitioning cost associated with four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks collectively; and

determining a partitioning size for a portion of the video picture corresponding to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block based on the comparison between the first partitioning cost and the second partitioning cost.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein a pixel block adjacent to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block is configured to receive adjusted reconstructed data for performing luma intra-prediction estimation if it is determined that the first partitioning cost is less than the second partitioning cost.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein a value of N is one of 8, 16 and 32.

14. A system for video picture intra-prediction estimation, the system comprising:

a memory device configured to store one or more video pictures;

an intra-prediction estimation device communicatively associated with the memory device, the intra-prediction estimation device configured to:

access four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks from the memory device, ‘N’ being an integer value, the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks comprising luma-related pixels, and the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks collectively configuring a ‘2N×2N’ pixel block of a video picture from among the one or more video pictures;

access a first pre-determined number of candidate luma intra-prediction modes for each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks, a candidacy of the luma intra-prediction modes being determined based on a predefined measure;

identify a presence of one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks; and

perform one of:

selecting a principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes based on identifying the presence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks, and

limiting a partitioning size to a ‘N×N’ pixel block size for a portion of the video picture corresponding to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block subsequent to identifying an absence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein if a presence of a luma intra-prediction mode from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that is common to each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks is identified, then the luma intra-prediction mode is selected as the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the intra-prediction estimation device is further configured to perform, if the presence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of two or three ‘N×N’ pixel blocks from among the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks is identified:

associate the one or more luma intra-prediction modes with remaining pixel blocks from among the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks;

compute an RDO cost for each of one or more luma intra-prediction modes for each of the remaining pixel blocks; and

select a luma intra-prediction mode from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes as the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block based on the RDO cost associated with each of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the intra-prediction estimation device is further configured to:

access four pixel blocks comprising chroma-related pixels, the four pixel blocks collectively configuring a chroma pixel block corresponding to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block;

access a second pre-determined number of candidate chroma intra-prediction modes for each of the four pixel blocks, a candidacy of the chroma intra-prediction modes being determined based on the predefined measure;

identify a presence of one or more chroma intra-prediction modes that are common from among the candidate chroma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four pixel blocks; and

select a principal chroma intra-prediction mode for the chroma pixel block based on identifying the presence of the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the intra-prediction estimation device is further configured to identify a presence of the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block from among the one or more chroma intra-prediction modes, wherein the presence of principal luma intra-prediction mode is identified subsequent to identifying the presence of one or more chroma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate chroma intra-prediction modes.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions that when executed cause a computer to perform a method for video picture intra-prediction estimation, the method comprising:

accessing four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks, ‘N’ being an integer value, the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks comprising luma-related pixels, and the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks collectively configuring a ‘2N×2N’ pixel block of a video picture;

accessing a first pre-determined number of candidate luma intra-prediction modes for each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks, a candidacy of the luma intra-prediction modes being determined based on a predefined measure;

identifying a presence of one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks; and

performing one of:

selecting a principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block from among the one or more luma intra-prediction modes based on identifying the presence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks, and

limiting a partitioning size to a ‘N×N’ pixel block size for a portion of the video picture corresponding to the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block subsequent to identifying an absence of the one or more luma intra-prediction modes that are common among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes of at least two of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein if a presence of a luma intra-prediction mode from among the candidate luma intra-prediction modes that is common to each of the four ‘N×N’ pixel blocks is identified, then the luma intra-prediction mode is selected as the principal luma intra-prediction mode for the ‘2N×2N’ pixel block.