HEVC fast CU mode decision using spatial SKIP mode information

HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) standard is ready to be launched for consumer electronics. With better coding efficiency, the coding complexity is high. We propose a fast CU (Coding Unit) depth decision algorithm based on SKIP mode information in the neighboring block to early terminate the CU splitting. Compared to the HEVC standard software, the proposed method can save by up to 41% of the time. The proposed method also saves by up to 16% of the time compared to a state-of-the-art work. The proposed method introduces very negligible losses in the video PSNR and bitrate.