Fast Partitioning Decision Strategies for The Upcoming Versatile Video Coding (VVC) Standard

Abstract

One of the key technologies in the upcoming Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard is the flexible partitioning. Compared to HEVC, partitioning alone accounts for about 8.5% bitrate savings. The added flexibility comes at a cost of large search space expansion.This paper gives an overview of fast encoder strategies for selecting the block partitioning in the Test Model VTM-3.0 for VVC. In total, 13 approaches for speeding up the block partitioning selection in an encoder are described; 8 of these techniques were developed by the authors. 10 of the 13 methods are used in the common test conditions of the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET); these 10 methods achieve an overall speed-up factor of 7 at a bit rate increase of only 1.1%. By enabling 12 approaches, a speed up factor of over 8.5 is obtained at a bit rate increase of about 1.5%.