This article describes the main video coding technologies included in a joint proposal submitted by Qualcomm and Technicolor, in response to a Call for Proposals (CfP) issued by ITU-T SG16 WP3 Q.6 (VCEG) and ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 (MPEG) in Oct. 2017. The proposal contains the majority of the tools that have been adopted into the Joint Exploration Model (JEM), developed in the exploratory phase that preceded the CfP. A flexible multi-tree type (MTT) block-partitioning scheme is proposed to extend the quadtree and binary tree (QTBT) based partitioning in JEM by including triple tree (TT) and asymmetric binary tree (ABT) partitions. In addition, several JEM tools in intra and inter prediction, transforms and arithmetic coding are modified, and new tools such as sign prediction and motion compensated padding are proposed. Objective standard dynamic range (SDR) gains of 43.1% and 15.5% in terms of average luma BD-rate improvement have been achieved for the CfP constraint set 1 (random-access configuration) relative to HEVC/H.265 (HM) and JEM anchors, respectively. For the CfP constraint set 2 (low-delay configuration), the average luma BD-rate improvements are 33.7% relative to the HM anchor and 12.7% relative to the JEM anchor. The proposed codec scored highly in both subjective evaluations and objective metrics and was among the best-performing CfP proposals.

This paper describes the coding block structure used in the joint Qualcomm/Technicolor responses to the JVET call for proposal on video compression with capability beyond HEVC. The proposed block structure relies on the known quadtree plus binary tree (QTBT) block structure and brings some higher degree of flexibility in it. Two sets of partitioning modes extend QTBT: the ternary tree (TT) and the asymmetric binary tree (ABT). The added split modes are used with a normative non-redundancy policy, which ensures any block topology can be reached through a unique series of split modes. Finally, some flexible binary and ternary partitioning is allowed near the bottom and right picture borders. Overall, the proposed split modes, non-redundancy and picture border strategies lead to 19.6% bitrate reduction over HEVC.

This paper presents a technical overview of Wide Angular Intra Prediction (WAIP) that was adopted into the test model of Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard. Due to the adoption of flexible block partitioning using binary and ternary splits, a Coding Unit (CU) can have either a square or a rectangular block shape. However, the conventional angular intra prediction directions, ranging from 45 degrees to -135 degrees in clockwise direction, were designed for square CUs. To better optimize the intra prediction for rectangular blocks, WAIP modes were proposed to enable intra prediction directions beyond the range of conventional intra prediction directions. For different aspect ratios of rectangular block shapes, different number of conventional angular intra prediction modes were replaced by WAIP modes. The replaced intra prediction modes are signaled using the original signaling method. Simulation results reportedly show that, with almost no impact on the run-time, on average 0.31% BD-rate reduction is achieved for intra coding using VVC test model (VTM).

Between the recent popularity of virtual reality (VR) and the development of 3D, immersion has become an integral part of entertainment concepts. Head-mounted Display (HMD) devices are often used to afford users a feeling of immersion in the environment. Another technique is to project additional material surrounding the viewer, as is achieved using cave systems. As a continuation of this technique, it could be interesting to extend surrounding projection to current television or cinema screens. The idea would be to entirely fill the viewer's field of vision, thus providing them with a more complete feeling of being in the scene and part of the story. The appropriate content can be captured using large field of view (FoV) technology, using a rig of cameras for 110 to 360 capture, or created using computergenerated images. The FoV is, however, rather limited in its use for existing (legacy) content, achieving between 36 to 90 degrees () field, depending on the distance from the screen. This paper seeks to improve this FoV limitation by proposing computer vision techniques to extend such legacy content to the peripheral (extrafoveal) vision without changing the original creative intent or damaging the viewer's experience. A new methodology is also proposed for performing user tests in order to evaluate the quality of the experience and confirm that the sense of immersion has been increased. This paper thus presents: i) an algorithm to spatially extend the video based on human vision characteristics, ii) its subjective results compared to state-of-the-art techniques, iii) the protocol required to evaluate the quality of the experience (QoE), and iv) the results of the user tests.

While image editing tends to be popularized, it remains a time-consuming task requiring a minimal expertise. This proposal presents an innovative tool for performing guided image editing. Oriented by a quality metric based on color harmony theory, the user picks up the least harmonious color areas and retouches them based on our recommended color palette. This set of proposed colors ensure the maximization of the global color harmony for the considered picture. In few clicks, anyone is able to retouch incongruous colors while respecting his taste or intent.

Quarter-pixel accuracy and variable block-size significantly enhance compression performances of the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video compression standard over its predecessors, but also significantly increase computation requirements. Firstly, a digital signal processor (DSP)-based solution that achieves real-time integer motion estimation is proposed. Fractional-pixel refinement is too computationally intensive to be efficiently processed on a software-based processor. To address this restriction, a flexible and low complexity VLSI subpixel refinement coprocessor is designed. Thanks to an improved datapath, a high throughput is achieved with low logic resources. Finally, an heterogeneous (DSP-field-programmable gate array) solution to handle real-time motion estimation with variable block-size and fractional-pixel accuracy for high-definition video is studied. This solution, combining programmability and efficiency, achieves motion estimation of 720 p sequences at up to 60 fps.