Fast selective-intra mode search algorithm based on macro-block tracking for inter-frames in the H.264/AVC video standard

A fast intra mode determination algorithm based on the macro- block (MB) tracking scheme and rate-distortion (RD) cost is proposed for inter-frames in the H.264/AVC video standard. In addition to the inter mode search procedure with variable block size, an intra mode search causes a significant increase in the complexity and computational load for an inter frame. To reduce the computational load of the intra mode search at the inter frame, the rate-distortion (RD) cost of the tracked MB for the current MB are used and we propose adaptive thresholding algorithms for skipping the intra mode search. For the IPPP sequence type, the overall encoding time can be reduced up to 52% through comparative analysis of experimental results with JM reference software.