Methods, systems, and programs for blending inter-intra predictions.

Abstract

The various implementations described herein include methods and systems for encoding and decoding video. In one aspect, a video decoding method includes receiving video data from a video bitstream, which includes a first block partitioned into a first section and a second section. The method further includes identifying the prediction mode of the first block from the syntactic elements of the video bitstream. Depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based intra-prediction mode in which the first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and the second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, the first section is blended using a first blending mask and the second section is blended using a second blending mask different from the first blending mask. The method also includes decoding the first block using the blended first and second sections.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Related Applications This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 443,364, filed on February 3, 2023, "Improved Blending for Wedge - Based Inter - Intra Prediction", and is a continuation of, and claims the priority of, U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 244,833, filed on September 11, 2023, "Systems and Methods for Blending Inter - Intra Predictions".

[0002] Technical Field The disclosed embodiments generally relate to video encoding [coding], which includes, but is not limited to, systems and methods for blending [mixing] block sections in a partition - based intra prediction mode.

Background Art

[0003] Digital video is supported by a variety of electronic devices such as digital television, laptop or desktop computers, tablet computers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video game consoles, smartphones, video teleconferencing devices, video streaming devices, etc. Electronic devices transmit and receive digital video data via a communication network, or communicate in other ways, and / or store digital video data in a storage device. Due to the limited bandwidth capacity of the communication network and the limited memory resources of the storage device, video encoding can be used to compress video data according to one or more video encoding standards before communication or storage.

[0004] Multiple video codec standards have been developed. For example, video coding standards include AOMedia Video 1 (AV1), Multipurpose Video Coding (VVC), Joint Exploration Test Model (JEM), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC / H.265), Advanced Video Coding (AVC / H.264), and Video Expert Group (MPEG) coding. Video coding generally utilizes predictive methods (e.g., inter-prediction, intra-prediction) that leverage the redundancy inherent in video data. The goal of video coding is to compress video data to use lower bitrates while avoiding or minimizing degradation of video quality.

[0005] HEVC, also known as H.265, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project. The ITU-T and ISO / IEC published the HEVC / H.265 standard in 2013 (version 1), 2014 (version 2), 2015 (version 3), and 2016 (version 4). Multipurpose Video Coding (VVC), also known as H.266, is a video compression standard intended as a successor to HEVC. The ITU-T and ISO / IEC published the VVC / H.266 standard in 2020 (version 1) and 2022 (version 2). AV1 is an open video coding format designed as an alternative to HEVC. Verified version 1.0.0, along with errata 1 for the specification, was released on January 8, 2019. [Overview of the Initiative] [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] As will be explained in detail below, in some current systems, the wedge inter-intra mode shares the same mixing mask as the wedge inter-inter mode. However, the inter-predictor and intra-predictor have different characteristics, and therefore, the shared mixing mask tuned for the wedge inter-inter combination may not be optimal for the wedge inter-intra combination. Thus, using different mixing masks for the wedge inter-inter mode and the wedge inter-intra mode can improve the accuracy of reconstructing video blocks (for example, by reducing artifacts in the decoded video).

[0007] According to several embodiments, a method for video decoding is provided. This method includes: (i) receiving video data from a video bitstream, comprising a plurality of blocks, each comprising a first block; (ii) identifying a prediction mode for the first block from the syntactic elements of the video bitstream; (iii) blending a first section of the first block with a second section of the first block using a first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-interpretation mode; (iv) blending a first section of the first block with a second blend mask, different from the first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intrapretation mode; and (v) decoding the first block using the blended first and second sections.

[0008] According to several embodiments, a method for video encoding is provided. This method includes: (i) receiving video data comprising a plurality of blocks, each comprising a first block; (ii) identifying a prediction mode for encoding the first block; (iii) blending a first section of the first block with a second section of the first block using a first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-interpretation mode; (iv) blending a first section of the first block with a second section of the first block using a second blend mask different from the first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intrapretation mode; and (v) encoding the first block using the blended first and second sections.

[0009] According to some embodiments, computing systems such as streaming systems, server systems, personal computer systems, or other electronic devices are provided. The computing system includes a control circuit and a memory for storing one or more instruction sets. One or more instruction sets include instructions for performing any of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, the computing system includes encoder components and decoder components (e.g., a transcoder component).

[0010] According to some embodiments, a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium is provided. The non-temporary computer-readable storage medium stores one or more instruction sets for execution by a computing system. One or more instruction sets include instructions for performing any of the methods described herein.

[0011] Therefore, devices and systems having methods for encoding and decoding video are disclosed. Such methods, devices, and systems may complement or replace conventional methods, devices, and systems for video encoding / decoding.

[0012] The features and advantages described herein are not necessarily exhaustive. In particular, several additional features and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the drawings, specification and claims provided herein. Furthermore, it should be noted that the language used herein has been selected primarily for readability and educational purposes and is not necessarily selected to define or limit the subject matter described herein. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] To enable a more detailed understanding of this disclosure, a more specific description can be obtained by referring to the features of various embodiments, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings merely illustrate relevant features of this disclosure and should not be considered limiting, and their description may recognize other valid features that a person skilled in the art would understand by reading this disclosure.

[0014] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows an exemplary communication system in several embodiments.

[0015] [Figure 2A] A directory diagram showing exemplary elements of an encoder component according to several embodiments.

[0016] [Figure 2B] A block diagram showing exemplary elements of a decoder component according to several embodiments.

[0017] [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary server system according to some embodiments.

[0018] [Figure 4] A - D show exemplary coding tree structures according to some embodiments.

[0019] [Figure 5A] FIG. 2 shows an example of a partition - based prediction mode according to some embodiments. <​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[0026] This disclosure, in particular, describes the use of various partitioning techniques for partitioning video blocks for better motion prediction and higher quality encoding. Partitioned blocks may be encoded using multiple reference blocks (e.g., inter-inter mode) or using a reference block and a reference portion of the current block (e.g., inter-intra mode). This disclosure also describes the use of separate blending masks for inter-inter prediction and inter-intra prediction. For example, the blending masks used for wedge inter-inter prediction and wedge inter-intra prediction may be different. Furthermore, the blending mask for wedge inter-intra prediction may be designed asymmetrically so that the inter-prediction portion has a wider (or narrower) blending area. Using different blending masks in this way can improve encoding accuracy and reduce artifacts in the decoded video data.

[0027] Exemplary Systems and Devices Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a communication system 100 according to several embodiments. The communication system 100 includes a source device 102 and a plurality of electronic devices 120 (for example, electronic devices 120-1 to 120-m) that are communicatively coupled to one or more networks. In some embodiments, the communication system 100 is a streaming system for use with video-enabled applications such as video conferencing applications, digital TV applications, and media storage and / or distribution applications.

[0028] Source device 102 includes a video source 104 (e.g., a camera component or media storage) and an encoder component 106. In some embodiments, the video source 104 is a digital camera (e.g., configured to create an uncompressed video sample stream). The encoder component 106 generates one or more encoded video bitstreams from the video stream. The video stream from video source 104 may have a higher data volume compared to the encoded video bitstream 108 generated by the encoder component 106. Since the encoded video bitstream 108 has a lower data volume (less data) compared to the video stream from the video source, the encoded video bitstream 108 requires less bandwidth to transmit and less storage space to store compared to the video stream from video source 104. In some embodiments, source device 102 does not include an encoder component 106 (e.g., it is configured to transmit uncompressed video data to a network(s) 110).

[0029] One or more networks 110 represent any number of networks that carry information between the source device 102, the server system 112, and / or electronic devices 120, including, for example, wireline and / or wireless communication networks. One or more networks 110 may exchange data over circuit-switched channels and / or packet-switched channels. Typical networks include telecommunications networks, local area networks, wide area networks, and / or the Internet.

[0030] One or more networks 110 include a server system 112 (for example, a distributed / cloud computing system). In some embodiments, the server system 112 is or includes a streaming server (configured to store and / or deliver video content, for example, an encoded video stream from a source device 102). The server system 112 includes a coder component 114 (configured to encode and / or decode video data, for example). In some embodiments, the coder component 114 includes an encoder component and / or a decoder component. In various embodiments, the coder component 114 is instantiated as hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the coder component 114 is configured to decode an encoded video bitstream 108 and re-encode the video data using different encoding standards and / or methods to produce encoded video data 116. In some embodiments, the server system 112 is configured to produce multiple video formats and / or encodings from the encoded video bitstream 108.

[0031] In some embodiments, the server system 112 functions as a Media-Aware Network Element (MANE). For example, the server system 112 may be configured to prune an encoded video bitstream 108 to tailor potentially different bitstreams for one or more of the electronic devices 120. In some embodiments, the MANE is provided separately from the server system 112.

[0032] Electronic device 120-1 includes a decoder component 122 and a display 124. In some embodiments, the decoder component 122 is configured to decode encoded video data 116 to produce an outgoing video stream that can be rendered on a display or other type of rendering device. In some embodiments, one or more of the electronic devices 120 do not include a display component (for example, they include media storage that is communicatively coupled to an external display device). In some embodiments, the electronic device 120 is a streaming client. In some embodiments, the electronic device 120 is configured to access a server system 112 to retrieve encoded video data 116.

[0033] The source device and / or the plurality of electronic devices 120 are sometimes referred to as “terminal devices” or “user devices.” In some embodiments, the source device 102 and / or one or more of the electronic devices 120 are instances of a server system, a personal computer, a portable device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or laptop), a wearable device, a video conferencing device, and / or other types of electronic devices.

[0034] In an exemplary operation of the communication system 100, source device 102 transmits an encoded video bitstream 108 to server system 112. For example, source device 102 may encode a stream of pictures captured by the source device. Server system 112 receives the encoded video bitstream 108 and may decode and / or encode the encoded video bitstream 108 using coder component 114. For example, server system 112 may apply a more optimal encoding to the video data for network transmission and / or storage. Server system 112 may transmit the encoded video data 116 (e.g., one or more encoded video bitstreams) to one or more electronic devices 120. Each electronic device 120 may decode the encoded video data 116 to restore and optionally display a video picture.

[0035] Figure 2A is a block diagram showing exemplary elements of an encoder component 106 according to several embodiments. The encoder component 106 receives a source video sequence from a video source 104. In some embodiments, the encoder component includes a receiver (e.g., a transceiver) component configured to receive the source video sequence. In some embodiments, the encoder component 106 receives a video sequence from a remote video source (e.g., a video source that is a component of a different device from the encoder component 106). The video source 104 may provide the source video sequence in the form of a digital video sample stream that can be any suitable bit depth (e.g., 8-bit, 10-bit, or 12-bit), any color space (e.g., BT.601 Y CrCb, or RGB), and any suitable sampling structure (e.g., YCrCb 4:2:0 or YCrCb 4:4:4). In some embodiments, the video source 104 is a storage device that stores previously captured / prepared video. In some embodiments, the video source 104 is a camera that captures local image information as a video sequence. The video data may be provided as a plurality of individual pictures that give motion when viewed sequentially. The pictures themselves may be organized as a spatial array of pixels, each pixel may contain one or more samples, depending on the sampling structure used, color space, etc. Those skilled in the art will readily understand the relationship between pixels and samples. The following description will focus on samples.

[0036] The encoder component 106 is configured to encode and / or compress the pictures of the source video sequence into an encoded video sequence 216 in real time or under other time constraints required by the application. One function of the controller 204 is to implement an appropriate encoding rate. In some embodiments, the controller 204 controls and is functionally coupled to other functional units, as described below. Parameters set by the controller 204 may include rate control-related parameters (e.g., picture skip, quantizer, and / or lambda values ​​for rate-distortion optimization techniques), picture size, picture group (GOP) layout, and maximum motion vector search range. Those skilled in the art will readily identify the other functions of the controller 204, as they may relate to the encoder component 106, which they are optimized for certain system designs.

[0037] In some embodiments, the encoder component 106 is configured to operate in an encoding loop. In a simplified example, the encoding loop includes a source coder 202 (responsible for creating symbols, such as a symbol stream, based, for example, the input picture to be encoded and a reference picture(s) or more) and a (local) decoder 210. The decoder 210 reconstructs the symbols to create sample data in a similar manner to the (remote) decoder (when the compression between the symbols and the encoded video bitstream is lossless). The reconstructed sample stream (sample data) is input to the reference picture memory 208. Since decoding the symbol stream yields bitwise-accurate results independent of the decoder's location (local or remote), the contents of the reference picture memory 208 are also bitwise-accurate between the local encoder and the remote encoder. In this way, the prediction portion of the encoder interprets the same sample values ​​as reference picture samples that the decoder interprets when using predictions during decoding. This principle of reference picture synchronization (and the resulting drift if synchronization cannot be maintained, for example, due to channel errors) is known to those skilled in the art.

[0038] The operation of decoder 210 may be the same as that of a remote decoder, such as decoder component 122, which will be described in detail below in relation to Figure 2B. However, referring to Figure 2B for the moment, since symbols are available and the encoding / decoding of symbols to the encoded video sequence by the entropy encoder 214 and parser 254 may be reversible, the entropy decoding portion of decoder component 122, including buffer memory 252 and parser 254, may not be fully implemented in local decoder 210.

[0039] The decoder techniques described in this paper, excluding parse / entropy decoding, may exist in substantially identical functional forms in the corresponding encoders. For this reason, the subject matter disclosed focuses on decoder operation. Descriptions of encoder techniques can be omitted, as they are the inverse of decoder techniques. Only in certain areas are more detailed explanations necessary and are provided below.

[0040] As part of its operation, the source coder 202 can perform motion-compensated predictive coding, which predictively codes the input frame by referencing one or more previously coded frames from a video sequence designated as reference frames. In this way, the coding engine 212 codes the difference between the pixel blocks of the input frame and the pixel blocks of one or more reference frames that may be selected as predictive references for the input frame. The controller 204 can manage the coding operation of the source coder 202, including, for example, setting parameters and subgroup parameters used to encode the video data.

[0041] Decoder 210 decodes the encoded video data of a frame that may be designated as a reference frame, based on the symbols created by source coder 202. The operation of encoding engine 212 can be, advantageously, a lossy process. When the encoded video data is decoded in a video decoder (not shown in Figure 2A), the reconstructed video sequence may be a replica of the source video sequence with some errors. Decoder 210 can replicate the decoding process that may be performed by the remote video decoder on the reference frame and store the reconstructed reference frame in reference picture memory 208. In this way, encoder component 106 locally stores a copy of the reconstructed reference frame that has content common to the reconstructed reference frame that would be obtained by the remote video decoder (if there are no transmission errors).

[0042] The predictor 206 can perform a predictive search for the encoding engine 212. That is, for a new frame to be encoded, the predictor 206 can search the reference picture memory 208 for sample data (as candidate criterion pixel blocks) or some metadata such as reference picture motion vectors, block shapes, etc., which can serve as appropriate predictive criteria for the new picture. The predictor 206 may operate sample block pixel block by sample block to find appropriate predictive criteria. In some cases, the input picture may have predictive references drawn from multiple reference pictures stored in the reference picture memory 208, as determined by the search results obtained by the predictor 206.

[0043] The outputs of all the aforementioned functional units can be entropically coded by the entropy encoder 214. The entropy encoder 214 converts the symbols generated by the various functional units into coded video sequences by lossless compression of the symbols according to techniques known to those skilled in the art (e.g., Huffman coding, variable-length coding, and / or arithmetic coding).

[0044] In some embodiments, the output of the entropy encoder 214 is coupled to the transmitter. The transmitter may be configured to buffer the encoded video sequences created by the entropy encoder 214 and prepare them for transmission over a communication channel 218, which may be a hardware / software link to a storage device that will store the encoded video data. The transmitter may be configured to merge the encoded video data from the source coder 202 with other data to be transmitted, such as encoded audio data and / or auxiliary data streams (source not shown). In some embodiments, the transmitter may transmit additional data along with the encoded video. The source coder 202 may include such data as part of the encoded video sequence. The additional data may include time / space / SNR enhancement layers, other forms of redundant data such as redundant pictures and slices, Supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI) messages, Visual Usability Information (VUI) parameter set fragments, and the like.

[0045] The controller 204 can manage the operation of the encoder component 106. During encoding, the controller 204 can assign each encoded picture to a type of encoded picture that may affect the encoding technique applied to each picture. For example, a picture may be assigned as an intra-picture (I-picture), a predictive picture (P-picture), or a bidirectional predictive picture (B-picture). An intra-picture can be encoded and decoded without using other frames in the sequence as a source for prediction. Some video codecs allow different types of intra-pictures, including, for example, Independent Decoder Refresh (IDR) pictures. Those skilled in the art will be familiar with these variations of I-pictures, as well as their respective uses and characteristics, and therefore they will not be repeated here. A predictive picture can be encoded and decoded using intra-prediction or inter-prediction, which uses at most one motion vector and a reference index to predict the sample value of each block. A bidirectional predictive picture can be encoded and decoded using intra-prediction or inter-prediction, which uses at most two motion vectors and reference indices to predict the sample value of each block. Similarly, multiple predictive pictures can use more than two reference pictures and associated metadata for the reconstruction of a single block.

[0046] A source picture can generally be spatially subdivided into multiple sample blocks (for example, blocks of 4x4, 8x8, 4x8, or 16x16 samples each) and encoded block by block. Blocks can be predictively encoded by referencing other (already encoded) blocks, as determined by the encoding assignment applied to each picture in the block. For example, a block of picture I may be encoded unpredictably or predictively by referencing already encoded blocks of the same picture (spatial prediction or intra-prediction). A pixel block of picture P may be encoded unpredictably, via spatial prediction, or via temporal prediction by referencing one previously encoded reference picture. A block of picture B may be encoded unpredictably, via spatial prediction, or via temporal prediction by referencing one or two previously encoded reference pictures.

[0047] Video can be captured as multiple source pictures (video pictures) in a time series. Intra-picture prediction (often abbreviated as intra-prediction) utilizes spatial correlations within a given picture, while inter-picture prediction utilizes (temporal or other) correlations between pictures. In one example, a particular picture being encoded / decoded, called the current picture, is partitioned into blocks. When a block in the current picture is analogous to a reference block in a previously encoded and still-buffering reference picture in the video, the block in the current picture can be encoded by a vector called a motion vector. The motion vector points to a reference block in the reference picture and may have a third dimension to identify the reference picture if multiple reference pictures are used.

[0048] The encoder component 106 may perform encoding operations in accordance with a given video encoding technique or standard, such as any of those described herein. In these operations, the encoder component 106 may perform various compression operations, including predictive encoding operations that utilize temporal and spatial redundancy in the input video sequence. Thus, the encoded video data may conform to the syntax specified by the video encoding technique or standard used.

[0049] Figure 2B is a block diagram showing exemplary elements of a decoder component 122 according to several embodiments. The decoder component 122 in Figure 2B is coupled to channel 218 and display 124. In some embodiments, the decoder component 122 includes a transmitter coupled to a loop filter 256 and configured to transmit data to display 124 (for example, via a wired or wireless connection).

[0050] In some embodiments, the decoder component 122 includes a receiver coupled to channel 218 and configured to receive data from channel 218 (for example, via a wired or wireless connection). The receiver may be configured to receive one or more encoded video sequences to be decoded by the decoder component 122. In some embodiments, the decoding of each encoded video sequence is independent of other encoded video sequences. Each encoded video sequence may be received from channel 218, and channel 210 may be a hardware / software link to a storage device that stores encoded video data. The receiver may receive encoded video data together with other data, such as encoded audio data and / or auxiliary data streams that may be transferred to their respective use entities (not shown). The receiver may isolate the encoded video sequence from such other data. In some embodiments, the receiver receives additional (redundant) data along with the encoded video. The additional data may be included as part of one or more encoded video sequences. Additional data may be used by decoder component 122 to decode the data and / or to more accurately reconstruct the original video data. The additional data may take the form of, for example, temporal, spatial, or SNR enhancement layers, redundant slices, redundant pictures, forward error correction codes, etc.

[0051] According to some embodiments, the decoder component 122 includes a buffer memory 252, a parser 254 (sometimes called an entropy decoder), a scaler / inverse unit 258, an intra-picture prediction unit 262, a motion compensation prediction unit 260, an aggregator 268, a loop filter unit 256, a reference picture memory 266, and a current picture memory 264. In some embodiments, the decoder component 122 is implemented as an integrated circuit, a series of integrated circuits, and / or other electronic circuits. In some embodiments, the decoder component 122 is implemented at least partially in software.

[0052] Buffer memory 252 is coupled between channel 218 and parser 254 (for example, to address network jitter). In some embodiments, buffer memory 252 is separate from decoder component 122. In some embodiments, a separate buffer memory is provided between the output of channel 218 and decoder component 122. In some embodiments, in addition to buffer memory 252 within decoder component 122 (configured, for example, to handle playout timing), a separate buffer memory is provided outside decoder component 122 (for example, to address network jitter). When receiving data from a storage / transfer device with sufficient bandwidth and controllability, or from an isochronous network, buffer memory 252 may not be necessary or may be small. For use over best-effort packet networks such as the Internet, buffer memory 252 may be required, may be relatively large, may be advantageously adaptively sized, and may be implemented at least partially in an operating system or similar element (not shown) outside decoder component 122.

[0053] The parser 254 is configured to reconstruct symbols 270 from the encoded video sequence. The symbols may include, for example, information used to manage the operation of the decoder component 122, and / or information for controlling rendering devices such as the display 124. The control information for rendering devices may be in the form of, for example, Supplemental Improvement Information (SEI) messages or video usability information (VUI) parameter set fragments (not shown). The parser 254 parses (entropy decodes) the encoded video sequence. The encoding of the encoded video sequence may follow video coding techniques or standards and may follow principles well known to those skilled in the art, including variable-length coding, Huffman coding, context-sensitive or non-context-sensitive arithmetic coding, etc. The parser 254 may extract from the encoded video sequence a set of subgroup parameters for at least one of the subgroups of pixels in the video decoder, based on at least one parameter corresponding to a group. Subgroups can include picture groups (GOP), pictures, tiles, slices, macroblocks, coding units (CU), blocks, transformation units (TU), and prediction units (PU). Parser 254 can also extract information such as transformation coefficients, quantizer parameter values, and motion vectors from the encoded video sequence.

[0054] The reconstruction of symbol 270 can involve multiple different units, depending on the type of encoded video picture or part thereof (interpicture and intrapicture, interblock and intrablock, etc.) and other factors. Which units are involved and how they are involved can be controlled by subgroup control information parsed from the encoded video sequence by parser 254. The flow of such subgroup control information between parser 254 and the following multiple units is not illustrated for clarity.

[0055] The decoder component 122 can be conceptually subdivided into numerous functional units, and in some implementations, many of these units can interact closely with each other and be at least partially integrated with one another. However, for clarity, the conceptual subdivision of functional units is maintained in this paper.

[0056] The scaler / inverse unit 258 receives quantized transformation coefficients, as well as control information (such as which transformation to use, block size, quantization factor, and / or quantization scaling matrix) from the parser 254 as symbols (singular or plural) 270. The scaler / inverse unit 258 can output a block containing sample values ​​that can be input to the aggregator 268.

[0057] In some cases, the output samples of the scaler / inverse unit 258 relate to intra-encoded blocks, i.e., blocks that do not use predictive information from previously reconstructed pictures, but can use predictive information from previously reconstructed portions of the current picture. Such predictive information may be provided by the intra-picture predictive unit 262. The intra-picture predictive unit 262 may generate blocks of the same size and shape as the block being reconstructed, using already reconstructed peripheral information taken from the current (partially reconstructed) picture from the current picture memory 264. The aggregator 268 may, sample by sample, add the predictive information generated by the intra-picture predictive unit 262 to the output sample information provided by the scaler / inverse unit 258.

[0058] In other cases, the output samples of the scaler / inverse unit 258 relate to intercoded and potentially motion-compensated blocks. In such cases, the motion-compensated prediction unit 260 can access the reference picture memory 266 to fetch samples to be used for prediction. After motion-compensating the fetched samples according to the symbol 270 relating to that block, these samples can be added by the aggregator 268 to the output of the scaler / inverse unit 258 (in this case, called residual samples or residual signals) to generate output sample information. The address in the reference picture memory 266 from which the motion-compensated prediction unit 260 fetches prediction samples may be controlled by a motion vector. The motion vector may be available to the motion-compensated prediction unit 260 in the form of a symbol 270 which may have, for example, X, Y, and reference picture components. Motion compensation may also include interpolation of sample values ​​fetched from the reference picture memory 266 when an accurate motion vector is used in sub-sample units, a motion vector prediction mechanism, etc.

[0059] The output samples of the aggregator 268 can follow various loop filtering techniques in the loop filter unit 256. The in-loop filtering techniques that the video compression technique may include are controlled by parameters contained in the encoded video bitstream and made available to the loop filter unit 256 as symbols 270 from the parser 254, but can also respond to metadata obtained during decoding of earlier parts (in decoding order) of the encoded picture or encoded video sequence, and can also respond to previously reconstructed and loop-filtered sample values.

[0060] The output of the loop filter unit 256 may be a sample stream that is output to a rendering device such as the display 124, or that can be stored in the reference picture memory 266 for use in future picture-to-picture predictions.

[0061] Certain encoded pictures, once fully reconstructed, can be used as reference pictures for future predictions. Once an encoded picture is fully reconstructed and identified as a reference picture (for example, by parser 254), the current reference picture can become part of reference picture memory 266, and fresh current picture memory can be reallocated before starting the reconstruction of subsequent encoded pictures.

[0062] The decoder component 122 can perform decoding operations according to a predetermined video compression technique that may be documented in a standard, such as one of the standards described herein. The encoded video sequence may conform to the syntax specified by the video compression technique or standard being used, in the sense that it conforms to the syntax of the video compression technique or standard, as specified in the video compression technique documentation or standard, particularly the profile documentation therein. Also, in order to conform to some video compression technique or standard, the complexity of the encoded video sequence may be within a range defined by the level of the video compression technique or standard. In some cases, the level may constrain the maximum picture size, maximum frame rate, maximum reconstruction sample rate (for example, measured in megasamples per second), maximum reference picture size, etc. The limitations set by the level may, in some cases, be further constrained through the Hypothetical Reference Decoder (HRD) specification and metadata for HRD buffer management that is signaled in the encoded video sequence.

[0063] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing a server system 112 according to several embodiments. The server system 112 includes a control circuit 302, one or more network interfaces 304, memory 314, a user interface 306, and one or more communication buses 312 for interconnecting these components. In some embodiments, the control circuit 302 includes one or more processors (e.g., a CPU, a GPU, and / or a DPU). In some embodiments, the control circuit includes one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), hardware accelerators, and / or one or more integrated circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits).

[0064] The network interface 304 may be configured to interface with one or more communication networks (e.g., wireless, wireline, and / or optical networks). Communication networks may be local, wide-area, metropolitan, automotive, and industrial, real-time, latency-tolerant, etc. Examples of communication networks include local area networks such as Ethernet®, cellular networks including Wi-Fi, GSM®, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE, etc., wired or wireless wide-area digital networks including cable TV, satellite TV, and terrestrial broadcast TV, and automotive and industrial networks including CANBus. Such communications may be one-way, receive-only (e.g., broadcast TV), transmit-only (e.g., CANbus to certain CANbus devices), or bidirectional (e.g., to other computer systems using local or wide-area digital networks). Such communications may include communications to one or more cloud computing networks.

[0065] The user interface 306 includes one or more output devices 308 and / or one or more input devices 310. The input devices 310 may include one or more of the following: a keyboard, mouse, trackpad, touchscreen, data glove, joystick, microphone, scanner, camera, etc. The output devices 308 may include one or more of the following: an audio output device (e.g., a speaker), a visual output device (e.g., a display or monitor), etc.

[0066] Memory 314 may include high-speed random-access memory (such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, and / or other random-access solid-state memory devices) and / or non-volatile memory (such as one or more magnetic storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, and / or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices). Memory 314 optionally includes one or more storage devices located away from the control circuit 302. Memory 314, or alternatively, the non-volatile solid-state memory devices within Memory 314, includes a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, Memory 314, or the non-temporary computer-readable storage medium of Memory 314, stores the following programs, modules, instructions, and data structures, or subsets or supersets thereof: ● An operating system that handles various basic system services and includes procedures for performing hardware-dependent tasks.316 ● A network communication module 318 used to connect the server system 112 to other computing devices via one or more network interfaces 304 (for example, via wired and / or wireless connections); ● Encoding module 320 for performing various functions related to encoding and / or decoding data such as video data. In some embodiments, the encoding module 320 is an instance of the coder component 114. The encoding module 320 is, but is not limited to: Decode module 322 performs various functions related to decoding encoded data, such as those previously described regarding decoder component 122; ○ Encoding module 340 for performing various functions related to data encoding, such as those previously described regarding encoder component 106. Includes one or more of the following; ● A picture memory 352 for storing pictures and picture data, for use with, for example, the encoding module 320. In some embodiments, the picture memory 352 includes one or more of the reference picture memory 208, buffer memory 252, current picture memory 264, and reference picture memory 266.

[0067] In some embodiments, the decode module 322 includes a parse module 324 (configured to perform various functions previously described with respect to, for example, the parser 254), a transform module 326 (configured to perform various functions previously described with respect to, for example, the scalar / inverse transform unit 258), a predictive module 328 (configured to perform various functions previously described with respect to, for example, the motion compensation predictive unit 260 and / or the in-picture predictive unit 262), and a filter module 330 (configured to perform various functions previously described with respect to, for example, the loop filter 256).

[0068] In some embodiments, the encoding module 340 includes a code module 342 (configured to perform various functions previously described with respect to, for example, the source coder 202 and / or the encoding engine 212) and a prediction module 344 (configured to perform various functions previously described with respect to, for example, the predictor 206). In some embodiments, the decoding module 322 and / or the encoding module 340 include a subset of the modules shown in Figure 3. For example, a shared prediction module is used by both the decoding module 322 and the encoding module 340.

[0069] Each of the identified modules stored in memory 314 corresponds to a set of instructions for performing the functions described herein. The modules identified above (e.g., sets of instructions) do not need to be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules; therefore, various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. For example, the encoding module 320 may optionally not include separate decoding and encoding modules, but rather use the same set of modules to perform both sets of functions. In some embodiments, memory 314 stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. In some embodiments, memory 314 stores additional modules and data structures not described above, such as an audio processing module.

[0070] Figure 3 shows server system 112 in several embodiments, but Figure 3 is not a schematic diagram of the structures of the embodiments described herein, but is intended as a functional description of the various features that may be present in one or more server systems. In practice, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art, items shown separately may be combined, and some items may be separated. For example, some items shown separately in Figure 3 may be implemented on a single server, and a single item may be implemented by one or more servers. The actual number of servers used to implement server system 112, and how functions are allocated among them, will vary from implementation to implementation and optionally depend in part on the amount of data traffic the server system handles during peak usage periods and average usage periods.

[0071] Examples of encoding processes and techniques The following encoding processes and techniques may be performed in the above-mentioned devices and systems (e.g., source device 102, server system 112 and / or electronic device 120). Figures 4A to 4D show exemplary encoding tree structures according to several embodiments. As shown in the first encoding tree structure (400) in Figure 4A, some encoding techniques (e.g., V9) use a four-way partition tree, starting at a 64x64 level and going down to a 4x4 level, with some additional limitations for an 8x8 block. In Figure 4A, the partition designated as R may be called recursive in that the same partition tree is repeated at lower scales until the lowest 4x4 level is reached.

[0072] As shown in the second coding tree structure (402) in Figure 4B, some coding techniques (e.g., AV1) extend the partition tree to a 10-way structure, increasing the maximum size (e.g., called a superblock in V9 / AV1 terminology) to start from 128×128. The second coding tree structure includes 4:1 / 1:4 rectangular partitions not included in the first coding tree structure. The partition type with three subpartitions in the second stage in Figure 4B is called a T-type partition. In addition to the coding block size, the depth of the coding tree can be defined to indicate the partition depth from the root note.

[0073] As an example, a CTU can be partitioned into CUs by using a quadtree structure, represented as a coding tree, to adapt to various local characteristics in HEVC and other systems. In some embodiments, the decision of whether to encode a picture area using inter-picture (temporal) prediction or intra-picture (spatial) prediction is made at the CU level. Each CU can be further partitioned into one, two, or four PUs, according to the PU partitioning type. Within a single PU, the same prediction process is applied, and relevant information is sent to the decoder for each PU. After obtaining residual blocks by applying the prediction process based on the PU partitioning type, the CU can be partitioned into TUs according to another quadtree structure, such as a coding tree for the CUs.

[0074] A quadtree with nested multitype trees using binary and ternary segmentation structures, such as in VVC, may replace the concept of multiple partition unit types, eliminating the separation of CU, PU, ​​and TU concepts, except when required for CUs that are too large for the maximum transformation length, and supporting greater flexibility in CU partition shapes. In a coding tree structure, a CU can have either a square or rectangular shape. A CTU is initially segmented by a quadtree (also called a quad tree) structure. The quadtree leaf nodes can be further segmented by a multitype tree structure. As shown in the third coding tree structure (404) in Figure 4C, the multitype tree structure includes four segmentation types. A multitype tree leaf node is called a CU, and this segmentation is used for prediction and transformation processing without further segmentation, as long as the CU is not too large for the maximum transformation length. This means that in most cases, CUs, PUs, and TUs have the same block size in a quadtree with a nested multitype tree coding block structure. An example of block partitioning for one CTU(406) is shown in Figure 4D, which illustrates an exemplary quadtree with a nested multitype tree coded block structure.

[0075] Motion estimation involves determining a motion vector that describes the transformation from one image (picture) to another. The reference image (or block) may be from adjacent frames within a video sequence. The motion vector may be related to the entire image (global motion estimation) or to a specific block. Furthermore, the motion vector may correspond to a translational or warped model that approximates the motion (rotation and translation in three dimensions, zoom, etc.). The estimated motion can be improved in some situations (e.g., for more complex video objects) by further partitioning the block.

[0076] Geometric partitioning mode (GPM) can focus on blocks (CUs, etc.) predicted between pictures. When GPM is applied to a block, the block is divided into two parts via a linear partition boundary. The position of the partition boundary can be mathematically defined by an angle parameter φ and an offset parameter ρ. These parameters may be quantized and combined into a GPM partition index lookup table. Currently, the GPM partition index of a block may be encoded in the bitstream. For example, for a CU with size w×h=2k×2l (with respect to lumens samples) where k,l∈{3…6}, GPM in VVC supports 64 partitioning modes. GPM may be disabled on CUs with aspect ratios greater than 4:1 or less than 1:4, for example, because narrow CUs rarely contain geometrically separated patterns.

[0077] After splitting, the two GPM sections (partitions) now contain individual motion information that can be used to predict the corresponding sections within the block. In some embodiments, for each section of the GPM, only unidirectional motion-compensated predictions (MCPs) are allowed, thereby equaling the memory bandwidth required for MCPs within the GPM to that for normal bidirectional MCPs. To simplify motion information coding and reduce the number of possible combinations for the GPM, the motion information may be coded in merge mode. The GPM merge candidate list may be derived from a conventional merge candidate list to ensure that it contains only unidirectional motion information.

[0078] Figure 5A shows the GPM prediction process according to several embodiments. The current block 510 is partitioned into a right section and a left section via partition 516. The right-hand predicted portion of the current block 510 (e.g., CU) of the current picture 502 (e.g., having size w × h) is predicted by MV0 from reference block 512 of reference picture 504, and the left-hand portion is predicted by MV1 from reference block 514 of reference picture 506.

[0079] Figure 5B shows examples of mixture matrices for partitions (e.g., partition 516) according to several embodiments. In this example, the final GPM prediction (PG) is generated by performing a mixing process using integer mixture matrices W0 and W1 containing weights in the range of values ​​from 0 to 8, for example. This can be expressed as follows:

number

[0080] Subsequently, the generated GPM prediction (PG) can be subtracted from the original signal to produce a residual. This residual can then be transformed, quantized, and encoded into a bitstream using, for example, a standard VVC transformation, quantization, and entropy coding engine. On the decoder side, the signal is reconstructed by adding the residual to the GPM prediction PG. A skip mode may also be supported by the GPM, for example, if the residual is negligible. In this case, the residual is dropped by the encoder, and the GPM prediction PG is used as is by the decoder as the reconstructed signal.

[0081] GPM can be further enhanced by, for example, GPM+TM (bilateral matching), GPM+MMVD (merge mode using motion vector difference), and inter+intraGPM. As shown in Figure 5C, the mixing intensity or mixing area width θ may be fixed for all different contents. In some embodiments, the weighting values ​​in the mixing mask are given by a ramp function.

number

number

[0082] Such a design may not always be optimal, as a fixed blending area width does not always provide the best blending quality for various types of video content. For example, video content typically contains strong textures and sharp edges, which require a narrow blending area to preserve edge information. For camera-captured content, blending is generally necessary, but the width of the blending area may depend on several factors, such as the actual boundaries of moving objects or the difference in movement between two partitions.

[0083] To address this issue, an adaptive blending scheme can be used for GPMs that dynamically adjusts the width of the blending area surrounding the GPM partition boundary. For example, the blending area width (θ) can be selected from a predefined set of values ​​{0, 1, 2, 4, 8}. The optimal blending area width is determined in the encoder for each GPM block and signaled to the decoder based on a syntactic element, such as merge_gpm_blending_width_idx. As an example, all predefined blending intensity values ​​may be shiftable, and all clipping and shifting operations in the GPM blending process may be retained unchanged.

[0084] Furthermore, the weight range may be increased from [0,8] to [0,32] to accommodate the increased width of the GPM mixed area. Specifically, the weights can be calculated as follows:

number

[0085] Wedge-based prediction is a composite prediction mode similar to GPM (for example, in AV1). Wedge-based prediction can be used in both inter-internal and inter-intra combinations. The boundaries of moving objects are often difficult to approximate by block partitions on a grid. The solution is to pre-define a codebook of possible wedge partitions (e.g., 16) and signal the wedge index in the bitstream when the coding unit is further divided in such a way. The current wedge design in AV1 supports 16 modes, as up to 16 symbols can be signaled in a single syntactic element using the multi-symbol adaptive context coding used in AV1. A 16-ary shape codebook, including any partition orientation of horizontal, vertical, or diagonal (e.g., gradient ±2 or ±0.5), is designed for both square blocks 540 and rectangular blocks 542, as shown in Figure 5D. Often, to mitigate spurious high-frequency components generated by directly juxtaposing two predictors, a soft-cliff-shaped 2D wedge mask may be used to smooth the edges around the intended partition (for example, m(i,j) is close to 0.5 around the edge and gradually converted to a binary weight at both ends away from the intended partition).

[0086] A composite prediction is a type of inter-prediction in which sample values ​​are calculated by blending predictions from two reference frames (for example, the frames being blended may be the same or different). The inter-intra prediction mode is a composite prediction mode that combines an inter-predictor and an intra-predictor. The inter-predictor in inter-intra mode may be generated using a single predictor, as described elsewhere in this specification. In some embodiments, the intra-predictor is limited to four intra-prediction modes: DC, vertical, horizontal, and smooth. The inter-predictor and intra-predictor may be combined together in either a smooth inter-intra mode or a wedge inter-intra mode. The blend mask may include an array of predictions containing the predicted samples, a variable plane specifying which plane is predicted, a variable specifying the position of the top-left sample in the current frame (plane) array of the predicted region, and / or variables specifying the width and height of the predicted region. The mask blending process combines two predictions according to the mask (for example, using an array containing the blend weights to apply). For wedge inter-intra modes, the inter-predictor and intra-predictor may be combined using a wedge mask. Predictions can be combined in a more sophisticated way than a simple average within a block. This sophisticated way includes smooth and sharp transition gradients in different directions (e.g., wedge-based predictions) and an implicit mask based on the difference between the two predictors. This allows for the use of either two inter-predictions or a combination of inter-prediction and intra-prediction within the same block. The wedge mask can represent a confusion matrix (e.g., the confusion matrix shown in Figure 5B).

[0087] For smoothed inter-intra modes, the mask used to combine the inter and intra predictors may depend on the intra mode. Exemplary normalized mask weights for vertical (vertical mask 552), horizontal (horizontal mask 554), smoothed (smooth mask 556), and DC (DC mask 558) modes are shown in Figure 5E. The vertical mask 552 contains mixing coefficients from 1.00 in the top row to 0.00 in the bottom row. The horizontal mask 554 contains mixing coefficients from 1.00 in the left column to 0.00 in the right column. The smooth mask 556 contains mixing coefficients from 1.00 in the left column of the top row to 0.00 in the bottom right corner. The DC mask 558 contains mixing coefficients of 0.50 across all rows and columns. The mixing coefficients may be stored in an array (for example, values ​​from 0 to 64, where 64 corresponds to 1.00).

[0088] The wedge modes in AV1 described above may be extended to allow the use of wedge modes for 64x64, 32x64, 64x32, 16x64, and 64x16 blocks. Furthermore, the wedge modes may be defined in Hessian norm form, where the angle indicates the direction of the division boundary and the distance indicates the offset of the division boundary from the center of the block. The angle can be quantized to a value (e.g., 20 values) using the tangent value. The distance may be quantized based on the block size. For example, three distances may be used for angles greater than 180 degrees, and for angles of 0 or 90 degrees. For other angles, four distances may be used. In this way, 8x4 + 12x3 = 68 modes can be supported. Since more than 16 modes are supported, the wedge index can be signaled using three syntactic elements, e.g., angular direction, angle, and distance. The angular direction indicates whether the angle is less than 180 degrees. Depending on the angular direction, the actual angle may be transmitted as a signal. Depending on the angle being transmitted, the distance may be transmitted as a signal.

[0089] The wedge mixing mask may be quantized directly from the distance from the sample position to the partition boundary. Using the partition boundary definition in Hessian normal form, the distance can be defined as follows:

number

number

[0090] The mixed weights at the corresponding locations can be derived using Equation 7.

number

[0091] The mixed weights may be calculated on the fly (for example, due to their low computational complexity) or they may be stored in advance (for example, similar to the AV1 wedge mode design).

[0092] In some systems, inter-intra mode and inter-inter mode share the same blending mask. However, a shared blending mask may degrade encoding accuracy because it does not fit the individual modes, which have different characteristics. Therefore, using different blending masks for inter-inter mode and inter-intra mode can improve accuracy when reconstructing video blocks.

[0093] Figure 6A is a flowchart illustrating a method 600 for encoding video according to several embodiments. The method 600 may be performed in a computing system (for example, a server system 112, a source device 102, or an electronic device 120) having a control circuit and a memory storing instructions for execution by the control circuit. In some embodiments, the method 600 is performed by executing instructions stored in the memory of the computing system (for example, memory 314).

[0094] The system receives video data containing multiple blocks, including a first block (602). The system identifies a prediction mode for encoding the first block (604). Depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode, where a first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and a second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, the system (606) blends the first section of the first block using a first blend mask and the second section of the first block using a second blend mask, the second blend mask being different from the first blend mask. The system encodes the first block using the blended first and second sections (608).

[0095] Figure 6B is a flowchart illustrating a method 650 for decoding video according to several embodiments. The method 650 may be performed in a computing system (for example, a server system 112, a source device 102, or an electronic device 120) having a control circuit and a memory storing instructions for execution by the control circuit. In some embodiments, the method 650 is performed by executing instructions stored in the memory of the computing system (for example, memory 314).

[0096] The system receives video data from a video bitstream, which includes multiple blocks, including a first block (652). The system identifies the prediction mode for the first block from the syntactic elements of the video bitstream (654). Depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode, where the first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and the second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, the system blends the first section of the first block using a first blend mask and the second section of the first block using a second blend mask (656). The second blend mask is different from the first blend mask. The system decodes the first block using the blended first and second sections (658).

[0097] Figures 6A and 6B show several logical stages in a specific order, but the order-independent stages may be rearranged, and other stages may be combined or separated. Several rearrangements or other groupings not specifically mentioned will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Thus, the orders and groupings presented herein are not exhaustive. Furthermore, it should be recognized that these stages may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.

[0098] The systems described herein may be used for GPM or wedge-based partitioning. In some embodiments, the mixture mask used for wedge inter-inter forecasting is different from the mixture mask used for wedge inter-intra forecasting (or the mixture mask used for wedge intra-intra forecasting).

[0099] In some embodiments, the blending mask for wedge inter-intra prediction is designed asymmetrically. For example, the inter-prediction unit has a wider or narrower blending area compared to the intra-prediction unit. More specifically, suppose a first block is partitioned into a first section and a second section. Disclosed methods (e.g., C1 below) can identify a prediction mode for the first block from syntactic elements of a video bitstream. Depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode in which the first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and the second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, the disclosed methods blend the first section of the first block using a first blending mask and the second section of the first block using a second blending mask. The second blending mask is different from the first blending mask. A decoder then decodes the first block using the blended first and second sections.

[0100] In some embodiments, both the inter and intra portions use the same linear mixing function (e.g., w = c1d + 0.5), but use different constants (e.g., c1) for the inter and intra portions. For example, c1 for the inter prediction portion may be equal to 1 / 4 (indicating a mixing area width of 2 pixels), and c1 for the intra prediction portion may be equal to 1 / 2 (indicating a mixing area of ​​1 pixel for the intra predictor). In some embodiments, the mixing function depends on whether a single prediction or a composite prediction is applied for the inter portion.

[0101] In some embodiments, the wedge blend mask for intra-prediction in wedge inter-intra prediction uses a wedge inter-intra prediction mode and a shared blend width and / or function. For example, several masks for intra-predictors are predefined and their indices are signaled. In this example, the decoder component identifies and uses the mask for the intra-predictor based on the parsed indices. For example, the indices are signaled by a high-level syntax that includes, but is not limited to, a sequence parameter set (SPS) or a frame header.

[0102] In some embodiments, an asymmetric blending mask is used for wedge inter-intra prediction (or wedge inter-intra prediction). In some embodiments, the blend width of the inter-prediction portion is equal to the blend width for wedge inter-intra prediction, and the blend width of the intra-prediction portion depends on the intra-mode. For example, for intra-predictors generated in smooth intra-mode, a blending area of ​​4 pixels / pixel is used. In this example, for intra-predictors generated in horizontal or vertical intra-mode, a blending area of ​​1 pixel / pixel is used. In some embodiments, the blending width depends on whether single prediction or composite prediction is applied to the inter portion.

[0103] In some embodiments, a wedge inter-intra mixed mask is combined with one or more other masks and then applied for wedge inter-intra prediction. For example, a wedge inter-intra mixed mask (e.g., symmetric or asymmetric) and a smoothed inter-intra mode mask may be combined and applied for wedge inter-intra prediction. As an example, the new weighting coefficient is w=(w w w s +1 << (b-1)) >> b, and here, w ww is a weighting factor for the wedge mask, s is the weighting factor for the smoothed inter-intra mask, and b is the number of bits for the mixed weighting factor.

[0104] (A1) In some aspects, several embodiments include a method for video encoding (e.g., method 600). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a computing system having memory and control circuits (e.g., server system 112). In some embodiments, the method is performed in an encoding module (e.g., encoding module 320). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a source encoding component (e.g., source coder 202), an encoding engine (e.g., encoding engine 212), and / or an entropy encoder (e.g., entropy encoder 214). The method includes the steps of: (i) receiving video data comprising a plurality of blocks, each comprising a first block divided into a first section and a second section; (ii) identifying a prediction mode for encoding the first block; (iii) blending the first section of the first block using a first blend mask and the second section of the first block using a second blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode, where the first section relates to an inter-prediction mode and the second section relates to an intra-prediction mode, wherein the second blend mask is different from the first blend mask; and (iv) encoding the first block using the blended first and second sections. In some embodiments, the method includes blending the first section of the first block and the second section of the first block using a third blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode. In some embodiments, the first and third blend masks have the same blending function.

[0105] (A2) In some embodiments of A1, the method further includes transmitting the encoded first block over a video bitstream. In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting instructions for a first mix mask and / or a second mix mask over a video bitstream.

[0106] (A3) In some embodiments of A1 or A2, the width of the first mixing area for the first section is different from the width of the second mixing area for the second section. In some embodiments, the width of the intra-predictive mixing area is the same as the width of the inter-predictive mixing area.

[0107] (A4) In some embodiments of A1 to A3, the first and second mixing masks use the same mixing function. In some embodiments, the first and second mixing masks use different mixing functions.

[0108] (A5) In some embodiments of A1 to A4, the width of the mixed area for the second section is determined based on the intra-mode for the first block.

[0109] (A6) In some embodiments of A1 to A5, the first and second mixing masks have the same mixing function for the interpredictive mixing area.

[0110] (A7) In some embodiments of A1 to A6, the width of the mixed area of ​​the second mixed mask is determined based on whether the inter-prediction portion of the partition-based inter-intra prediction mode is a single prediction or a composite prediction.

[0111] (A8) In some embodiments of A1 to A7, the method further includes blending a first section of a first block and a second section of a first block using a fourth blend mask different from the first blend mask, according to the prediction mode being a partition-based intra-intra prediction mode.

[0112] (B1) In another aspect, some embodiments include a method for video decoding. In some embodiments, the method is performed in a computing system having memory and control circuits (e.g., server system 112). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a coding module (e.g., coding module 320). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a parser (e.g., parser 254), a motion prediction component (e.g., motion compensation prediction unit 260), and / or an intra-prediction component (e.g., in-picture prediction unit 262). The method includes the steps of: (i) receiving video data (e.g., an encoded video sequence) from a video bitstream, which includes a plurality of blocks, including a first block; (ii) identifying a prediction mode for the first block from the syntactic elements of the video bitstream; (iii) blending a first section and a second section of the first block using a first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-interpretation mode; (iv) blending a first section and a second section of the first block using a second blend mask different from the first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intrapretation mode; and (v) decoding the first block using the blended first and second sections. For example, the blend mask used for wedge inter-interpretation is different from the blend mask used for wedge inter-intraprediction.

[0113] (B2) In some embodiments of B1, the second mixing mask includes an intra-predictive mixing area and an inter-predictive mixing area, wherein the width of the intra-predictive mixing area differs from the width of the inter-predictive mixing area. For example, the mixing mask for wedge inter-intra prediction is designed asymmetrically, such that the intra-predictive area has a wider (or narrower) mixing area compared to the mixing area for the inter-predictive area.

[0114] (B3) In some embodiments of B2, blending a first section of a first block and a second section of a first block using a second blending mask involves using the same blending function for blending interpredictive blending areas and intrapredictive blending areas. For example, both the inter and intra parts use a linear blending function w = c1d + 0.5, but the predefined value of c1 differs between the inter and intra parts. For example, for the interpredictive part, c1 is equal to 1 / 4, which indicates that the blending area width is 2 pixels, and for the intrapredictive part, c1 is equal to 1 / 2, which indicates that the blending area for the intrapredictor is 1 pixel.

[0115] (B4) In some embodiments of B2 or B3, the width of the intra-predictive blending area is determined based on the intra-mode of the first block. For example, if an asymmetric blending mask is used for wedge inter-intra prediction, the blend width of the inter-predictor portion is equal to the blend width for wedge inter-intra prediction, and the blend width of the intra-predictor portion depends on the intra-mode. As an example, a 4-pixel / pixel blending area is used for intra-predictors generated in smooth intra-mode. As a further example, a 1-pixel / pixel blending area is used for intra-predictors generated in horizontal or vertical intra-mode. In some embodiments, the blend width of the intra-predictive blending area depends on whether single prediction or composite prediction is applied to the inter portion.

[0116] (B5) In some embodiments of B1 to B4, the first and second blend masks have the same blend function for the intra-predictive blend area. For example, the wedge blend mask for the inter-predictor of wedge inter-intra prediction uses the shared blend width / function of wedge inter-intra prediction. In some embodiments, the first and second blend masks have the same blend width for the inter-predictive blend area. In some embodiments, the first and second blend masks are selected from a set of blend masks based on an index signaled in the video bitstream. For example, several masks for intra-predictors are predefined and the index is signaled. For example, in the decoder, the corresponding mask for the intra-predictor is used depending on the parsed index. In some embodiments, the index is signaled in high-level syntax. For example, high-level syntax corresponds to sequence level, frame level, slice level, or tile level. In some embodiments, high-level syntax is higher than block level. High-level syntax can include video parameter sets (VPS), sequence parameter sets (SPS), picture parameter sets (PPS), adaptive parameter sets (APS), slice headers, picture headers, tile headers, and / or CTU headers.

[0117] (B6) In some embodiments of B1 to B5, the second mixing mask is determined based on whether the inter-prediction portion of the partition-based inter-intra prediction mode is single prediction or composite prediction. For example, the mixing function depends on whether single prediction or composite prediction is applied to the inter portion.

[0118] (B7) In some embodiments of B1 to B6, the second mixture mask is a combination of two or more mixture masks. For example, a wedge inter-intra mixture mask may be combined with other masks before being applied for wedge inter-intra prediction. As an example, a wedge inter-intra mixture mask (e.g., symmetric or asymmetric) and a smoothed inter-intra mode mask may be combined and applied for wedge inter-intra prediction. Exemplary weighting factor w = (w w w s +1<<(b-1))>>b may also be applied to the mask to be combined, where w w w is a weighting factor for the wedge mask, s is a weighting factor for the smoothed inter-intra mask, and b is the number of bits to blend the weighting factors.

[0119] (B8) In some embodiments of B1 to B7, the method further includes blending a first section of a first block and a second section of a first block using a third blend mask different from the first blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based intra-intra prediction mode. For example, the third blend mask may be the same as or different from the second blend mask.

[0120] (C1) In another aspect, some embodiments include a method for video decoding (e.g., method 650). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a computing system having memory and control circuits (e.g., server system 112). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a coding module (e.g., coding module 320). In some embodiments, the method is performed in a parser (e.g., parser 254), a motion prediction component (e.g., motion compensation prediction unit 260), and / or an intra-prediction component (e.g., in-picture prediction unit 262). The method includes: (i) receiving video data (e.g., an encoded video sequence) from a video bitstream, which includes a plurality of blocks, each containing a first block partitioned into a first section and a second section; (ii) identifying a prediction mode for the first block from the syntactic elements of the video bitstream; (iii) blending the first section of the first block with a first blend mask and the second section of the first block with a second blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode in which the first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and the second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, wherein the second blend mask is different from the first blend mask; and (iv) decoding the first block using the blended first and second sections.

[0121] (C2) In some embodiments of C1, the width of the first mixing area for the first section is different from the width of the second mixing area for the second section.

[0122] (C3) In some embodiments of C1 or C2, the first and second mixing masks use the same mixing function.

[0123] (C4) In some embodiments of C1 to C3, the width of the mixed area for the second section is determined based on the intra-mode for the first block.

[0124] (C5) In some embodiments of C1 to C4, the method further includes using a third blend mask to blend a first section of a first block and a second section of a first block, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-interpretation mode.

[0125] In some embodiments of (C6)C5, the first and third mixing masks have the same mixing function.

[0126] (C7) In some embodiments of C1 to C6, the width of the mixed area of ​​the second mixed mask is based on whether the inter-prediction portion of the partition-based inter-intra prediction mode is a single prediction or a composite prediction.

[0127] (C8) In some embodiments of C1 to C7, the method further includes blending a first section of a first block and a second section of a first block using a fourth blend mask different from the first and second blend masks, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based intra-intra prediction mode.

[0128] In another aspect, some embodiments include a computing system (e.g., a server system 112) comprising a control circuit (e.g., control circuit 302) and memory coupled to the control circuit (e.g., memory 314), the memory storing one or more instruction sets configured to be executed by the control circuit, the one or more instruction sets comprising instructions for performing any of the methods described herein (e.g., A1-A8, B1-B8, and C1-C8 above).

[0129] In yet another aspect, some embodiments include a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium storing one or more instruction sets executed by the control circuits of a computing system, the one or more instruction sets including instructions for performing any of the methods described herein (for example, A1-A8, B1-B8, and C1-C8 above).

[0130] In this specification, terms such as "first," "second," etc., may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another.

[0131] The terms used herein are for the sole purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Where used in the description of embodiments and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “and / or” as used herein will also be understood to refer to and encompass any and all possible combinations of one or more of the enumerated items relating to the invention. Where used herein, the terms “have” and / or “include” specify the presence of the described features, integers, steps, actions, elements, and / or components, but will not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, actions, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0132] As used herein, the term "if..." may be interpreted, depending on the context, as meaning "when" or "on the occasion" the stated antecedent is true, or "in response to the determination that...", or "according to the determination that...", or "in response to the detection that...". Similarly, the phrase "[if] it is determined that the stated antecedent is true", or "[if] the stated antecedent is true", or "[when] the stated antecedent is true", may be interpreted, depending on the context, as meaning "when" or "in response to the determination that" the stated antecedent is true, or "according to the determination that", or "when" or "in response to the detection".

[0133] The above description has been illustrated with reference to specific embodiments for illustrative purposes. However, the above illustrative discussion is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the claims to the exact form disclosed. In light of the above teachings, many modifications and variations are possible. The embodiments have been selected and illustrated to best illustrate the operating principle and practical application, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to implement them.

Claims

1. A video decoding method performed by a computing system having memory and one or more processors, the method being: The steps include receiving video data from a video bitstream, which includes multiple blocks, including a first block partitioned into a first section and a second section; The steps include: identifying a prediction mode for the first block from the syntactic elements of the video bitstream; Depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode in which the first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and the second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, the steps include: blending the first section of the first block using a first blend mask and blending the second section of the first block using a second blend mask, wherein the second blend mask is different from the first blend mask; The steps include: decoding the first block using the blended first and second sections; Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the width of the first mixing area for the first section is different from the width of the second mixing area for the second section.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second mixing masks use the same mixing function.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the width of the mixed area for the second section is determined based on the intra-mode for the first block.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising using a third blending mask to blend the first section of the first block and the second section of the first block, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-inter prediction mode.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first and third mixing masks have the same mixing function.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the width of the mixing area of ​​the second mixing mask is based on whether the inter-prediction portion of the partition-based inter-intra prediction mode is a single prediction or a composite prediction.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising blending the first section of the first block and the second section of the first block using a fourth blend mask different from the first blend mask and the second blend mask, depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based intra-intra prediction mode.

9. Control circuit; memory; and One or more instruction sets stored in the memory, configured for execution by the control circuit, A computing system having, wherein one or more instruction sets cause the control circuit to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8, Computing system.

10. A computer program for causing one or more processors to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second mixing mask includes an intra-predictive mixing area and an inter-predictive mixing area, the width of the intra-predictive mixing area being different from the width of the inter-predictive mixing area.

12. A video encoding method performed by a computing system having memory and one or more processors, the method being: The steps include receiving video data which includes multiple blocks, including a first block which is divided into a first section and a second section; The steps include identifying a prediction mode for encoding the first block; Depending on whether the prediction mode is a partition-based inter-intra prediction mode in which the first section is associated with an inter-prediction mode and the second section is associated with an intra-prediction mode, the steps include: blending the first section of the first block with a first blend mask and blending the second section of the first block with a second blend mask, wherein the second blend mask is different from the first blend mask; The steps include encoding the first block using the blended first and second sections, method.

13. Control circuit; memory; and One or more instruction sets stored in the memory, configured for execution by the control circuit, A computing system having, wherein one or more instruction sets cause the control circuit to perform the method described in claim 12, Computing system.

14. A computer program for causing one or more processors to perform the method described in claim 12.

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