Video Slice Header Indexing for Lower-Complexity Subpictures

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing video coding technologies face challenges in improving coding efficiency, image quality, reducing processing amounts, and circuit scales, while also requiring appropriate selection of elements or operations such as filters, blocks, motion vectors, and reference pictures.

Innovation Solution

The proposed solution involves assigning consecutive picture and subpicture level slice indexes without gaps, encoding these indexes into slice headers, and encoding slices into a bitstream, thereby simplifying the processing and reducing complexity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If complex slice indexing schemes are used to improve coding efficiency, then coding efficiency improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecoding efficiencyVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes the subpicture level slice index from the slice header, keeping only the picture level slice index. This simplifies the data structure while maintaining the ability to identify slices, thereby reducing device complexity without significantly impacting coding efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses the picture level slice index to implicitly represent slice identification within subpictures, eliminating the need for separate subpicture level indexing. This copying approach maintains slice identification functionality while reducing the complexity of the indexing scheme.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Manufacturing precision

If multiple slice index levels are maintained to improve image quality, then image quality improves, but processing amount increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimage qualityVSAvoidprocessing amount
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the subpicture level slice index data from the bitstream, reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed and transmitted. This extraction maintains the essential slice identification capability while significantly reducing processing requirements for encoding and decoding operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Productivity

If detailed slice indexing is implemented to improve coding efficiency, then coding efficiency improves, but circuit scale increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecoding efficiencyVSAvoidcircuit scale
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and eliminates the subpicture level slice index from the data structure, reducing the number of variables and processing steps required in the encoding and decoding circuits. This leads to a reduction in circuit scale while maintaining adequate slice identification capability through the picture level slice index alone.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP4075806B1Encoding device, decoding device, encoding method, and decoding method
Publication Date: 2026.02.04 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORP OF AMERICA
  • EP4075806B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4075806B1 patent drawingFigure 2(a)~2(f)
  • EP4075806B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

An encoder (100) includes circuitry and memory coupled to the circuitry. The circuitry: respectively assigns, to slices included in a picture, picture level slice indexes that are consecutive without a gap in an entirety of the picture and are consecutive without a gap in each of subpictures included in the picture; respectively assigns, to the slices, subpicture level slice indexes that are consecutive without a gap in each of the subpictures, and has a same order as an order of the picture level slice indexes in the subpicture; respectively encodes the subpicture level slice indexes into slice headers respectively corresponding to the slices; and encodes each of the slices into a bitstream.