Abstract: A method of IntraBC coding using restricted reference area is disclosed. A reference block is selected from an available ladder-shaped reference area comprising previously processed blocks before the current working block in the current CTU row and previously processed blocks in one or more previous CTU rows. A location of a last previously processed block of a second previous CTU row that is one CTU row farther away from the current CTU row than a first previous CTU row is always in a same vertical location or after a same vertical position of a last previously processed block of the first previous CTU row. The current picture may be partitioned into multiple CTU rows for applying wavefront parallel processing (WPP) on the multiple CTU rows, where the current working block corresponds to a current working block. Similar restrictions may also be applied to slice/tile-based parallel processing.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for deblocking reconstructed video in a video coding system. The method receives reconstructed pixel data, wherein the reconstructed pixel data is configured into LCUs (largest coding units) and each LCU is divided into blocks. The method then identifies horizontal block edges of the blocks in the LCUs, applies first vertical filtering to the reconstructed pixel data corresponding to one or more first lines above a first horizontal block edge in the first edge group, and applies second vertical filtering to the reconstructed pixel data corresponding to one or more second lines above a second horizontal block edge in the second edge group, wherein a first number of said one or more first lines is smaller than a second number of said one or more second lines.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for deriving a temporal motion vector predictor (MVP) are disclosed. The MVP is derived for a current block of a current picture in Inter, or Merge, or Skip mode based on co-located reference blocks of a co-located block and a flag is used to indicate the co-located picture. More than one co-located reference blocks can be used to derive the temporal MVP and the co-located reference blocks can be selected from the co-located block as well as neighboring blocks of the co-located block. A search set comprises search motion vectors associated with the co-located reference block(s) is formed. The search motion vector (MV) corresponding to the co-located reference block in the same reference list is searched before the search MV in a different reference list. Various schemes to accommodate implicit method of deriving co-located picture are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for motion information coding using a refined Merge mode are disclosed. Embodiments of the present invention not only uses the Merge index to indicate the selected Merge candidate, but also refines partial motion information of the selected Merge candidate. An encoder according to the present invention derives a Merge candidate set based on the motion information associated with neighboring blocks. The encoder selects a target Merge candidate from the Merge candidate set and signal a Merge index corresponding to the target Merge candidate. The encoder then predicts a part of the current motion information based on partial motion information associated with the target Merge candidate to generate coded motion information. The process for a decoder incorporating the refined Merge mode is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus of adaptive interpolation filter for motion compensation with fractional-pixel accuracy are disclosed. Embodiments of the present invention generate interpolated reference samples at non-integer locations based on existing reference samples in a reference block by using an interpolation filter set adaptively according to pixel location and/or pixel characteristics. A current block is then encoded or decoded using a temporal predictor including the interpolated reference samples. The adaptive interpolation filter can be applied to the prediction unit (PU). In one embodiment, the interpolation filter set consists of interpolation filters having different filter lengths. An interpolation filter with a longer tap length is applied to generate interpolated reference samples farther from the block boundary and an interpolation filter with a shorter tap length is applied to generate interpolated reference samples closer to the block boundary.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for deriving a motion vector predictor (MVP) for a motion vector (MV) of a current block of a current picture in Inter, or Merge, or Skip mode. The method selects a co-located block corresponding to a co-located picture and receives one or more reference motion vectors (MVs) of one or more co-located reference blocks associated with the co-located block. The method also determines a search set and determines a search order for the search set, if the search MV corresponding to the given reference list is not available, the search order then searches the search MV corresponding to a reference list different from the given reference list. Finally, the method determines the MVP for the current block based on the search set and the search order and provides the MVP for the current block.

Abstract: A method for decoding of a video bitstream including receiving coded data for a 2N×2N coding unit (CU) from the video bitstream, selecting one or more first codewords according to whether asymmetric motion partition is disabled or enabled, selecting one or more second codewords when a size of the 2N×2N CU is equal to a smallest CU size, wherein none of the second codewords corresponds to INTER N×N partition when N is 4, determining a CU structure for the 2N×2N CU from the video bitstream using the first codewords or the second codewords, and decoding the video bitstream using the CU structure. A corresponding method for encoding a 2N×2N coding unit of video data is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method of context-based adaptive binary arithmetic decoding for syntax elements of a coding unit coded by intra prediction is disclosed. The method includes receiving binary arithmetic coded bins associated with the coding unit, the coded bins includes a first part comprising regular bins associated with prediction units (PUs) partitioned from the coding unit and a second part comprising bypass bins associated with each PU, wherein the regular bins relate to an indication of intra prediction mode selection associated with each PU and the bypass bins relate to an index for a most probable mode and/or a remaining prediction mode associated with each PU; determining a first codeword comprising the regular bins and corresponding to a first syntax element for each PU; determining a second codeword comprising the bypass bins and corresponding to a second syntax element for each PU; and providing the first and second syntax elements for each PU.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for Sample Adaptive Offset (SAO) processing of video data in a video decoder are disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes receiving a block of processed-reconstructed pixels associated with a picture from a media or a processor, wherein the block of processed-reconstructed pixels are decoded from a video bitstream; determining a SAO type index from the video bitstream, wherein the SAO type index is decoded according to truncated unary binarization, the SAO type index is decoded using CABAC (context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coding) with one context, or the SAO type index is decoded by CABAC using a context mode for a first bin associated with the SAO type index and using a bypass mode for any remaining bin associated with the SAO type index; and applying SAO processing to the block of processed-reconstructed pixels based on SAO information including the SAO type index.

Abstract: A method of significance group flag coding is disclosed. The method includes: receiving one or more significance group flags associated with a TU (transform unit), wherein the TU is divided into one or more sub-blocks; and coding said one or more significance group flags based on context set selection, wherein the context set selection is associated with significance map coding of the sub-block, and the context set selection depends on horizontal sub-block index, vertical sub-block index, or both the horizontal sub-block index and the vertical sub-block index.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for chroma intra prediction for a current chroma block with reduced line memory requirement are disclosed. The chroma intra predictor is derived from reconstructed luma pixels of a current luma block using a model with parameters. In various embodiments according to the present invention, the derivation of the parameters relies on a reconstructed luma pixel set corresponding to neighboring reconstructed luma pixels from causal luma neighboring areas of the current luma block, wherein said causal luma neighboring areas include a first area corresponding to reconstructed luma pixels above a horizontal luma block boundary on a top side of the current luma block, and wherein the reconstructed luma pixels from the first area that are included in the reconstructed luma pixel set are from a luma pixel line immediately above the horizontal luma block boundary.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for palette coding of a block of video data using a candidate prediction mode list with syntax redundancy removed are disclosed. In one embodiment, whether a redundant prediction mode exists in the candidate prediction mode list for the current samples of the current block is determined based on the candidate prediction mode list and the previous prediction mode associated with the previous samples. If the redundant prediction mode exists in the candidate prediction mode list, the redundant prediction mode is removed from the candidate prediction mode list to generate a reduced candidate prediction mode list. In another embodiment, whether a redundant predictor exists in a candidate predictor list for a current sample of the current block is determined based on a condition related to one or more predictors for the current sample of the current block.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for palette coding of a block of video data using a shared palette/palette prediction buffer are disclosed. The system receives a bitstream including compressed data associated with a current palette coded block and determines a palette predictor for the current palette coded block stored in a shared palette/palette predictor buffer. Reuse flags for entries of the current palette are used to update the current palette stored in the shared palette/palette predictor buffer. Any new signaled entry will be inserted to the shared palette/palette predictor buffer. An updated palette predictor for a next palette coded block is generated accordingly. A method of palette management and initialization for first palette-coded block in a high-level video structure is also disclosed. The high-level video structure may correspond to a slice, wavefront, sequence or picture.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for deblocking of reconstructed video are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method divides a block boundary into two sub-boundaries and separates lines or column across the sub-boundaries into two groups. The deblocking filter decision for each group is determined based on the lines or columns in the respective group. In another embodiment, the method divides block edges of blocks in the LCUs into two edge groups, where the first edge group corresponds to horizontal block edges between two LCUs and the second edge group corresponds to remaining block edges not included in the first edge group. The number of lines processed by a vertical filter in the first edge group is less than the number of lines processed by a vertical filter in the second edge group. Accordingly, a system embodying the present invention has reduced storage requirement.

Abstract: A method of coding a block of video data using palette coding is disclosed. According to the present invention, when a previous block is available, the system receives first information related to a previous palette set corresponding to previous palettes/triplet palette, and second information related to a previous palette predictor set corresponding to previous palette predictors/triplet-palette predictors associated with the previous block. The system then derives a current palette predictor set corresponding to current palette predictors/triplet-palette predictor associated with the current block based on the previous palette set and the previous palette predictor set by including at least one unused color or triplet of the previous palette predictor set in the current palette predictor set. A current palette set corresponding to current palettes/triplet-palette associated with the current block is derived from the current palette predictor set for palette encoding or decoding.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for low-latency illumination compensation in a three-dimensional (3D) and multi-view coding system are disclosed. According to the present invention, the encoder determines whether to enable or disable the illumination compensation for the current picture or slice based on a condition related to statistic associated with a selected reference picture or slice respectively, or related to high-level coding information associated with the current picture or slice respectively. The high-level coding information associated with the current picture or slice excludes any information related to pixel values of the current picture or slice respectively. The illumination compensation is them applied according to the decision made by the encoder. A similar low-latency method is also applied for depth lookup table (DLT) based coding.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for video coding having intra-slice deblocking, intra-slice adaptive loop filter, and intra-slice adaptive offset are disclosed. In a video coding system, a picture is often divided into slices and each slice is independently processed so that errors or missing data from one slice cannot propagate to any other slice within the picture. In the recent high efficiency video coding (HEVC) development, deblock filtering (DF), adaptive loop filter (ALF) and adaptive offset (AO) may be applied to reconstructed slices. When the processing is applied across slice boundaries, it may rely on pixels outside the current slice and cause dependency of the current slice on other slice(s). Consequently, the DF/ALF/AO processing on a reconstructed slice may have to wait until the reconstructed slices that it is dependent from complete the DF/ALF/AO processing. To overcome the slice boundary issue, intra-slice DF/ALF/AO is developed that does not rely on any pixel outside the currently slice.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for deriving a motion vector predictor (MVP) are disclosed. The MVP is selected from spatial MVP and temporalone or more MVP candidates. The method determines a value of a flag in a video bitstream, where the flag is utilized for selectively disabling use of one or more temporal MVP candidates for motion vector prediction. The method selects, based on an index derived from the video bitstream, the MVP from one or more non-temporal MVP candidates responsive to the flag indicating that said one or more temporal MVP candidates are not to be utilized for motion vector prediction. Further, the method provides the MVP for the current block.

Abstract: A system and method of content adaptive pixel intensity processing are described. The method includes receiving a predefined set of processed video data configured from the processed video data, deriving a range information associated with an original maximum value and an original minimum value for a predefined set of original video data, wherein the predefined set of processed video data is derived from the predefined set of original video data, and adaptively clipping pixel intensity of the predefined set of processed video data to a range deriving from the range information, wherein the range information is incorporated in a bitstream and represented in a form of the original maximum value and the original minimum value, prediction values associated with a reference maximum value and a reference minimum value, or a range index associated with a predefined range set.

Abstract: A method and apparatus of context-based adaptive binary arithmetic encoding/decoding for syntax elements of one or more blocks are disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the binarization results of the x and y positions of the last significant coefficient of a transform unit are reordered by collecting the bypass bins together. According to another embodiment of the present invention, binarization results of syntax elements from two or more of four Intra N×N prediction units, including prev_intra_luma_pred_flag, rem_intra_luma_pred_mode, and mpm_idx are reordered by collecting the bypass bins together. In yet another embodiment according to the present invention, the binarization results of other syntax elements are also reordered by collecting bypass bins together. Furthermore, the above reordering of binarization results may be used for binarization results corresponding to a block and its neighboring blocks.