Fast segment-wise DC coding for 3D video compression

A Fast Segment-wise DC Coding (SDC) algorithm is proposed for 3D-HEVC depth intra coding. Since SDC is a supplementary option for intra prediction modes, it is not necessary to check SDC option for all intra candidate modes during full Rate-Distortion (RD) cost calculation. Based on the observation that most Prediction Units (PUs) choose the same intra coding mode with and without SDC option, we propose a fast SDC coding algorithm to avoid unnecessary full-RD cost calculation. The performance evaluation is based on HTM-11.0 and the experimental result for the proposed fast algorithm shows up to 25% encoding time saving with only 0.19% BD-bitrate increase in coded and synthesized view for All-Intra test case.