An encoder-decoder texture replacement method with application to content-based movie coding

In this paper, we exploit the stylistic characteristics of high-quality entertainment movie sequences in terms of their textured background for coding purposes. More specifically, we propose a content-based coding method by texture replacement. At the encoder, texture is removed from selected regions of the original frames. The resulting frames with the texture removed and the parameters of the removed texture are then encoded. At the decoder, the boundaries of the regions without texture are identified and new texture, which is synthesized using the decoded texture parameters, is mapped onto these regions. Our experimental results confirm the main advantages of the proposed texture replacement method: significant bit rate reduction of the compressed movie sequences with the texture removed, and higher visual quality of the textured background regions in the decoded movie sequences with synthesized texture than that of the regions in the sequences simply encoded and decoded. Even more, our method can be applied as an overlay onto any standards-compliant coding system.