Rate-distortion optimization with adaptive weighted distortion in high Efficiency Video Coding

This paper presents an adaptive weighted distortion optimization algorithm used in the Rate-Distortion Optimization (RDO) process of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). RDO is an important tool to improve the coding efficiency. Usually the distortion weights of different color components are equal or predetermined. In this paper, an adaptive weighted distortion optimization algorithm is introduced to improve the coding efficiency. The distortion weight is estimated according to the previous coded pictures belonging to the same temporal level, such that encoding complexity is almost unchanged. With the proposed adaptive weighted distortion optimization method, on average about 3.3% and up to 10.6% bit-saving are obtained based on the latest HEVC reference software, HM-8.0 and the corresponding common test conditions. The proposed algorithm can also be applied to other coding schemes such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.