JP2008182527A - Image encoding apparatus and method, and imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to reduce waiting time for in-plane prediction and to speed up moving picture coding.
[Solution]
As an image encoding device that performs intra prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image, a control unit that determines an order of processing the plurality of blocks according to a prediction mode of supported intra prediction, A data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction in an optimal prediction mode of the prediction modes using pixels adjacent to each block for each of the plurality of blocks according to the order determined by the control unit. Have.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image encoding apparatus that compresses image data, and more particularly to an image encoding apparatus that performs prediction processing (in-plane prediction processing) within a screen.

  With the spread of digital cameras and digital video cameras and the development of digital communication technology, MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) has been widely used as a technology for compressing moving image data. In particular, in a moving picture coding system such as MPEG-4 AVC that has been standardized in recent years, in-plane predictive coding is usually performed.

  In-plane prediction (intra prediction) refers to a prediction image for a prediction unit block (hereinafter referred to as a target block) of m × n pixels (m and n are positive integers) to be processed within the same screen as the target block. It is to predict using this pixel. In the in-plane prediction, pixels (decoded pixels) obtained by decoding an already encoded image in the image encoding device are used.

  There are a plurality of prediction modes for in-plane prediction. For the target block in the input image, a predicted image is generated using the selected in-plane prediction mode. Thereafter, the difference image between the generated predicted image and the input image and information indicating the used prediction mode are encoded to realize image encoding.

  In MPEG-4 AVC (advanced video coding), spatial prediction is performed using decoded pixels around the target block, and a predicted image of the target block is generated. An example of a prediction mode determination method at this time is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  37 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) are planes for a 4 × 4 pixel block of a luminance signal. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of intra prediction mode, Comprising: About prediction mode 0, prediction mode 1, prediction mode 2, prediction mode 3, prediction mode 4, prediction mode 5, prediction mode 6, prediction mode 7, and prediction mode 8, respectively It is explanatory drawing of. In MPEG-4 AVC, nine types of in-plane prediction modes are used.

  In the vertical direction prediction mode (prediction mode 0), as shown in FIG. 37 (a), the decoded pixels of the target block are set using the four decoded pixels adjacent to the target block of 4 × 4 pixels. Generate. In the horizontal direction prediction mode (prediction mode 1), as shown in FIG. 37 (b), a predicted pixel of the target block is generated using four decoded pixels adjacent to the left of the target block. In the DC prediction mode (prediction mode 2), as shown in FIG. 37C, the average value of the decoded pixels of the 8 pixels adjacent to the left and above the target block is set as the predicted pixel value of the target block. To do.

  In addition, the lower left direction prediction mode (prediction mode 3) as shown in FIG. 37 (d), the lower right direction prediction mode (prediction mode 4) as shown in FIG. 37 (e), and the right as shown in FIG. 37 (f). Downward prediction mode (prediction mode 5), lower right direction prediction mode (prediction mode 6) as shown in FIG. 37 (g), lower left direction prediction mode (prediction mode 7) as shown in FIG. 37 (h), FIG. There is an upper right direction prediction mode (prediction mode 8) such as i). Thus, there are eight prediction modes and a DC prediction mode, that is, a total of nine types of in-plane prediction modes.

  FIGS. 38 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are explanatory diagrams showing examples of the in-plane prediction mode for the 8 × 8 pixel block of the color difference signal, and are respectively the prediction mode 0 and the prediction mode. It is explanatory drawing about 1, prediction mode 2, and prediction mode 3. FIG. In MPEG-4 AVC, these four types of in-plane prediction modes are used.

FIG. 39 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the processing order of blocks. The blocks in FIG. 39 become target blocks in the order of blocks B0, B1, B2,..., B15.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-160048

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of a target block. When all the prediction modes in FIGS. 37A to 37I are used, in order to perform the in-plane prediction for the target block X, the decoding process for the blocks A to D in FIG. 14 is not completed. Don't be. For this reason, when the process for the block X is started, it may be necessary to wait for the in-plane prediction and decoding process of the blocks A to D to end.

  Moreover, it is also possible to perform processing using only some of the prediction modes in FIGS. 37 (a) to (i). In this case, there is no need to wait for the completion of all the in-plane prediction and decoding processes of the blocks A to D in FIG. However, depending on the processing order of the blocks, a waiting time occurs, and the processing speed cannot be increased.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the waiting time for in-plane prediction and to speed up moving picture coding.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the means taken by the present invention is an image encoding device that performs in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image, and the plurality of blocks according to a supported prediction mode. A control unit that determines the order of processing, and an optimal prediction mode of the prediction modes using pixels adjacent to each block for each of the plurality of blocks according to the order determined by the control unit And a data processing unit for performing in-plane prediction.

  According to this, since the order in which a plurality of blocks are processed is determined according to the supported prediction mode, the waiting time in the in-plane prediction can be reduced and the prediction can be speeded up.

  In addition, another image coding apparatus according to the present invention is an image coding apparatus that performs in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image, with respect to each luminance signal and color difference signal of the plurality of blocks. A data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction using pixels adjacent to each block, and a control unit that controls in-plane prediction processing in the data processing unit. The data processing unit alternately performs processing for luminance signals and processing for color difference signals.

  According to this, since the process for the luminance signal and the process for the color difference signal are alternately performed, the waiting time in the in-plane prediction can be reduced.

  Still another image coding apparatus according to the present invention is an image coding apparatus that performs an intra prediction process on a plurality of blocks constituting an image, and assigns each block to each of the plurality of blocks. A data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction using adjacent pixels; and a control unit that controls in-plane prediction processing in the data processing unit. The data processing unit alternately performs processing on blocks belonging to different macroblocks.

  According to this, processing for blocks belonging to different macroblocks is performed alternately, so that the waiting time for in-plane prediction can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, the processing order of blocks is adaptively changed, so that the waiting time for in-plane prediction can be reduced, and moving picture encoding can be speeded up.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image coding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image encoding apparatus in FIG. 1 includes a control unit 1 and a data processing unit 100. The data processing unit 100 includes an input unit 2, a subtraction unit 4, an orthogonal transform / quantization unit 6, a coefficient storage unit 8, an inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 10, a reconstructed image generation unit 12, A reconstructed image storage unit 14 and an in-plane prediction unit 16 are provided. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the image encoding apparatus of FIG.

  The image to be processed (frame image) has a plurality of macro blocks, and each macro block has 16 blocks B0 to B15. Each of the blocks B0 to B15 has 4 × 4 pixels.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a first example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of the target block. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the processing order of blocks in the case of FIG. Here, in-plane prediction is performed using the optimum prediction mode among the seven modes of FIGS. 37 (a), (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), and (i). (That is, the image encoding apparatus in FIG. 1 supports these seven modes). In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, in order to perform in-plane prediction of the target block, block X, it is necessary to use decoded pixels of surrounding blocks A, B, and C.

  The control unit 1 determines the order of processing the blocks B0 to B15 according to the prediction mode of the supported in-plane prediction. In the case of FIG. 3, the control unit 1 determines to process the blocks in the order of FIG. The input unit 2 receives the image PX1, and selects and outputs blocks B0 to B15 included in the image PX1 in the order shown in FIG. 4 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 1. The reconstructed image storage unit 14 stores decoded pixels that constitute a reconstructed image that has already been obtained.

  In step S <b> 1 of FIG. 2, the input unit 2 first selects the block B <b> 0 and outputs the data to the subtraction unit 4 and the in-plane prediction unit 16. In step S2, the in-plane prediction unit 16 is adjacent to the block B0 and is necessary for in-plane prediction according to the instruction of the control unit 1 (here, the rightmost pixel of the block B5 in the left macroblock, the upper The lower end pixel of the block B10 in the adjacent macroblock and the lower right pixel of the block B15 in the upper left macroblock) are read out from the reconstructed image storage unit 14. The in-plane prediction unit 16 uses the read pixels to determine an optimum prediction mode (for example, the prediction mode with the least error) among the supported prediction modes of the in-plane prediction, and the prediction mode In-plane prediction is performed to generate a predicted image.

  In step S <b> 3, the subtraction unit 4 obtains a difference between the block output from the input unit 2 and the predicted image generated by the in-plane prediction unit 16. In step S4, the orthogonal transform / quantization unit 6 performs orthogonal transform and quantization on the difference obtained by the subtraction unit 4, and outputs the obtained quantized data.

  In step S5, the coefficient storage unit 8 stores the quantized data. In step S6, the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 10 reads the quantized data from the coefficient storage unit 8, and performs inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform on the read data. In addition, the coefficient storage unit 8 outputs the quantized data to the outside of the image encoding device in FIG.

  In step S <b> 7, the reconstructed image generation unit 12 adds the result of inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform and the predicted image obtained by the in-plane prediction unit 16 to obtain a reconstructed image. In step S8, the reconstructed image storage unit 14 stores the obtained reconstructed image. In step S9, the control unit 1 determines whether or not the processing for all the blocks has been completed. If completed, the process of FIG. 2 is terminated. If not completed, the process returns to step 1 to process the next block to be newly output.

  FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the image encoding apparatus of FIG. 1 in the case of FIG. Steps S1 and S2 in FIG. 2 are referred to as a stage ST1, steps S3 to S5 are referred to as a stage ST2, and steps S6 to S8 are referred to as a stage ST3.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the processing of the block X can be started if the stages ST3 of the surrounding blocks A, B, and C are completed. For example, in order to process the block B1, it is necessary that the inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform of the block B0 have been completed. The process of block B2 can be started when the process of block B0 is completed. For this reason, when stage ST1 of block B1 ends, stage ST1 of block B2 can be started. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the processes of stages ST1 to ST3 can be performed in parallel.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a second example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of the target block. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the processing order of blocks in the case of FIG. Here, it is assumed that in-plane prediction is performed using an optimal prediction mode among the two modes of FIGS. 37 (b) and (i). In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to perform the in-plane prediction of the block X that is the target block, it is necessary to use the decoded pixels of the surrounding block A. In this case, the control unit 1 determines to process the blocks in the order shown in FIG. The input unit 2 outputs the data of the blocks B0 to B15 in the order of FIG. 7 according to the instruction of the control unit 1.

  FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the case of FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the processing of the block X can be started if the stage ST3 of the left block A has been completed, so that the processing of the stages ST1 to ST3 is performed in parallel as shown in FIG. It can be carried out.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a third example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of the target block. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the processing order of blocks in the case of FIG. Here, it is assumed that in-plane prediction is performed using the prediction mode of FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, in order to perform the in-plane prediction of the target block, block X, it is necessary to use the decoded pixels of the surrounding block B. In this case, the control unit 1 determines to process the blocks in the order shown in FIG. The input unit 2 outputs the data of the blocks B0 to B15 in the order of FIG. 10 according to the instruction of the control unit 1.

  FIG. 11 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the case of FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the process of the block X can be started if the stage ST3 of the block B above is completed. Therefore, the processes of the stages ST1 to ST3 are performed in parallel as shown in FIG. It can be carried out.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a fourth example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of the target block. Here, it is assumed that in-plane prediction is performed using an optimal prediction mode among the four modes of FIGS. 37 (a), (b), (c), and (i). In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, in order to perform the in-plane prediction of the target block X, it is necessary to use the decoded pixels of the surrounding blocks A and B. In this case, the control unit 1 determines to process the blocks in the order shown in FIG. The input unit 2 outputs the data of the blocks B0 to B15 in the order of FIG. 4 according to the instruction of the control unit 1. In this case, the timing of processing performed on each block is shown in the timing chart of FIG.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a fifth example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of the target block. Here, it is assumed that in-plane prediction is performed using an optimum prediction mode among the three modes of FIGS. 37 (a), (d), and (h). In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, in order to perform in-plane prediction of the target block, block X, it is necessary to use the decoded pixels of block B and block D around it. In this case, the control unit 1 determines to process the blocks in the order shown in FIG. The input unit 2 outputs the data of the blocks B0 to B15 in the order of FIG. 10 according to the instruction of the control unit 1. In this case, the timing of processing performed on each block is shown in the timing chart of FIG.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a sixth example of blocks necessary for in-plane prediction of the target block. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the processing order of blocks in the case of FIG. Here, in-plane prediction is performed using an optimal prediction mode among the nine modes of FIGS. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, in order to perform in-plane prediction of the target block, block X, it is necessary to use the decoded pixels of the surrounding blocks A, B, C, and D. is there. In this case, the control unit 1 determines to process the blocks in the order shown in FIG. The input unit 2 outputs the data of the blocks B0 to B15 in the order of FIG. 15 according to the instruction of the control unit 1.

  FIG. 16 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the case of FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the processing of the block X can be started if the stages ST3 of the surrounding blocks A, B, C, and D have been completed, so that the stages ST1 to ST3 are shown in FIG. These processes can be performed in parallel.

  As described above, according to the image encoding apparatus of FIG. 1, since the blocks are processed in the order corresponding to the number of supported prediction modes, it is possible to perform in-plane prediction and other processing in parallel. As a result, the time required for the encoding process can be shortened.

  FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a first modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding device in FIG. 17 includes a control unit 1 and a data processing unit 200. The data processing unit 200 includes a forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization unit 7 in place of the orthogonal transform / quantization unit 6 and the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 10 in the data processing unit 100 of FIG. I have. The other components are the same as those described with reference to FIG. 1, and thus the same reference numerals are assigned and description thereof is omitted. The forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization unit 7 includes functions of an orthogonal transform / quantization unit 6 and an inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 10.

  FIG. 18 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the image encoding device of FIG. Stage ST2 and stage ST3 in FIG. 2 are collectively referred to as stage ST4. The image encoding device in FIG. 17 requires slightly more time for processing than the image encoding device in FIG. However, since a circuit that performs orthogonal transform / quantization processing and a circuit that performs inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform processing can share a part of the circuit, according to the image encoding device of FIG. The circuit scale can be reduced as compared with the first image encoding apparatus.

  FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a second modification of the image encoding device in FIG. The image encoding device in FIG. 19 includes a control unit 1 and a data processing unit 300. The data processing unit 300 is the data processing unit 200 of FIG. 17 further including an adjacent pixel storage unit 18.

  The reconstructed image storage unit 14 needs to hold at least one frame of data for motion compensation of the next frame. For this reason, the reconstructed image storage unit 14 is often composed of an external DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) and takes time to access. Therefore, the image coding apparatus shown in FIG. 19 includes the adjacent pixel storage unit 18. The adjacent pixel storage unit 18 stores only adjacent pixels (lowermost block or rightmost column pixels) necessary for in-plane prediction by the in-plane prediction unit 16. The in-plane prediction unit 16 reads out and uses the decoded pixels constituting the reconstructed image from the adjacent pixel storage unit 18 instead of the reconstructed image storage unit 14.

  FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of pixels stored in the adjacent pixel storage unit 18 of FIG. The adjacent pixel storage unit 18 stores, for example, only the lowermost pixel of each block as shown in FIG. Since the adjacent pixel storage unit 18 stores the minimum necessary pixels, the capacity may be small. For this reason, it is possible to easily increase the reading speed using a high-speed memory.

  FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a third modification of the image encoding device in FIG. The image encoding device in FIG. 21 includes a control unit 401 and a data processing unit 400. The data processing unit 400 includes a plurality of coefficient storage units 8 in the data processing unit 100 of FIG.

  An operation mode MD is input to the control unit 401 from the outside. The operation mode MD corresponds to the resolution and frame rate of the image to be processed. The control unit 401 determines the prediction mode and the block processing order supported by the image coding apparatus in FIG. 21 according to the operation mode MD. In other respects, the control unit 401 is the same as the control unit 1 of FIG.

  Since the image encoding apparatus of FIG. 21 includes a plurality of coefficient storage units 8 that can operate independently from each other, data writing to one of the coefficient storage units 8 (stage ST2 of FIG. 2) The reading of data from the other one (the process of stage ST3 in FIG. 2 or the output to the outside) can be performed independently. For this reason, it is possible to increase the processing speed. In addition, since the supported prediction modes can be controlled from the outside, the number of supported prediction modes can be reduced and the in-plane prediction process can be speeded up when higher speed is required.

  Note that the image encoding device in FIG. 21 may include the control unit 1 in FIG. 1 instead of the control unit 401.

  FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a fourth modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding device in FIG. 22 includes a control unit 501 and a data processing unit 500. The data processing unit 500 is the same as the data processing unit 200 of FIG. 17, further including an inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210 and a clock control unit 32.

  The clock control unit 32 outputs the clock signal to the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210. The inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210 reads the quantized data from the coefficient storage unit 8 and performs inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform on the read data. The reconstructed image generation unit 12 not only uses the forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization unit 7 but also the results of inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform obtained by the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210. It adds with the prediction image calculated | required in the inner prediction part 16, and calculates | requires a reconstruction image. According to this, the speed of inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform can be increased.

  An operation mode MD is input to the control unit 501 from the outside. The control unit 501 determines whether to operate the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210 according to the operation mode MD. When the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210 is not operated, the control unit 501 causes the clock control unit 32 to stop the clock signal to the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210. For this reason, power consumption can be suppressed. In other respects, the control unit 501 is the same as the control unit 1 of FIG.

  FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a fifth modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding device in FIG. 23 includes a control unit 1 and a data processing unit 600. The data processing unit 600 includes a plurality of in-plane prediction units 16 in the data processing unit 100 of FIG. The control unit 1 operates as many in-plane prediction units 16 as the number of supported prediction modes. When a plurality of in-plane prediction units 16 operate, these in-plane prediction units 16 perform in-plane prediction in parallel.

  According to the image coding apparatus in FIG. 23, even when there are many supported prediction modes, a plurality of in-plane prediction units 16 predict simultaneously in the candidate prediction modes, and the optimum prediction is selected from these modes. It becomes possible to select a mode. For this reason, it is possible to increase the speed of the image encoding device.

  FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating a sixth modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding apparatus in FIG. 24 includes a control unit 1 and a data processing unit 700. In the data processing unit 100 of FIG. 1, the data processing unit 700 includes a plurality of orthogonal transform / quantization units 6, a plurality of coefficient storage units 8, and a plurality of inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform units 10. It is a thing. The plurality of orthogonal transform / quantization units 6 perform orthogonal transform and quantization processing for a plurality of prediction modes in parallel, and the plurality of inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform units 10 perform inverse quanta for a plurality of prediction modes. And inverse orthogonal transform processing are performed in parallel.

  According to the image encoding device in FIG. 24, the processing speed of the entire image encoding device is not reduced when the processing of the in-plane prediction 16 is completed relatively early, such as when the supported prediction modes are few. can do.

  FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating a seventh modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding apparatus in FIG. 25 includes a control unit 801 and a data processing unit 800. The data processing unit 800 includes a plurality of coefficient storage units 8 in the data processing unit 600 of FIG. 23, and replaces the orthogonal transform / quantization unit 6 and the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 10 with a control unit 801. Are provided with a plurality of orthogonal transform / quantization units 206 and a plurality of inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform units 210 that can be controlled.

  An operation mode MD is input to the control unit 801 from the outside. The control unit 801 determines a prediction mode and a block processing order supported by the image encoding device in FIG. 25 according to the operation mode MD. Further, the control unit 801 affects the processing performance among the in-plane prediction unit 16, the orthogonal transform / quantization unit 206, and the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 210 (thing that requires time for processing). Is operated by the number corresponding to the number of prediction modes supported. In other respects, the control unit 801 is the same as the control unit 1 of FIG.

  When a plurality of orthogonal transform / quantization units 206 and a plurality of inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform units 210 operate, these orthogonal transform / quantization units 206 have a number corresponding to the number of supported prediction modes. Orthogonal transformation and quantization processing are performed in parallel, and the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transformation unit 210 performs the number of inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transformation processing in parallel according to the number of supported prediction modes. According to the image encoding device in FIG. 25, the processing speed of the entire image encoding device can be prevented from decreasing.

  FIG. 26 is a timing chart showing an example of processing timing for each block when the luminance signal and the color difference signal are alternately processed. As described above, in each of the above image encoding devices, the luminance signal and the color difference signal may be alternately processed.

  For example, in the image encoding apparatus of FIG. 1, when the blocks are processed in the order of FIG. 4, the control unit 1 includes the luminance signal Y0 of the block B0, the color difference signals Cb0 and Cr0 of the block B0, The color difference signals Cb1, Cr1,... Of the block B1 may be output to the input unit 2 in the order shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 26, the data processing unit 100 alternately performs processing on the luminance signal and processing on the color difference signal. In this way, the processing waiting time is reduced, so that the processing can be completed earlier than in the case of FIG.

  FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a processing order of macroblocks in a processing target frame image. For example, the macro block MB4 is processed next to the macro block MB1. FIG. 28 is a timing chart showing an example of processing timing for each block when different macroblocks are alternately processed. In this manner, different macroblocks may be alternately processed in each of the above image encoding devices.

  For example, in the image encoding apparatus of FIG. 1, when the blocks are processed in the order of FIG. 4, the control unit 1 performs block B0 (MB1-B0) of macroblock MB1 and block B0 (MB4-B0) of macroblock MB4. .., Block B1 (MB1-B1) of macro block MB1, block B1 (MB4-B1) of macro block MB4,... May be. As shown in FIG. 28, the data processing unit 100 alternately performs processing on blocks belonging to different macroblocks. In this way, the processing waiting time is reduced, so that the processing can be completed earlier than in the case of FIG.

  FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an eighth modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding apparatus in FIG. 29 includes a control unit 901 and a data processing unit 900. The data processing unit 900 is the same as the data processing unit 400 of FIG. 21, further including an input unit 3 and a selection unit 34.

  The input unit 3 receives the image PX2 and outputs the data of the blocks included in the image PX2 in the order determined by the control unit 901. The control unit 901 receives an image designation signal PS from the outside. The control unit 901 is the same as the control unit 1 of FIG. 1 except that the selection unit 34 is controlled as follows according to the image designation signal PS. The selection unit 34 selects, in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 901, one designated by the image designation signal PS from the output from the input unit 2 (image PX1) and the output from the input unit 3 (image PX2), or one by one. The selection is alternately performed, and the selected output is output to the subtraction unit 4 and the in-plane prediction unit 16.

  According to the image encoding device in FIG. 29, two images can be processed in parallel. Since the other image can be processed in the idle time of the processing of one image, the processing can be performed efficiently. It is also possible to select whether to process only one of the two images or both. It should be noted that three or more input units to which different images are input are provided, and among those outputs, the selection unit 34 selects one designated by the image designation signal PS or sequentially selects one by one. You may make it do.

  FIG. 30 is a block diagram showing a ninth modification of the image encoding device in FIG. The image encoding device in FIG. 30 is different from the image encoding device in FIG. 1 in that an orthogonal transform unit 42 and forward / inverse quantization are used instead of the orthogonal transform / quantization unit 6 and the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit 10. Unit 44 and an inverse orthogonal transform unit 46. In FIG. 30, the components other than these components and the coefficient storage unit 8 are not shown.

  In other words, the image encoding device in FIG. 30 includes an orthogonal transform unit 42 and a quantization unit as orthogonal transform / quantization units, and an inverse quantization unit and an inverse orthogonal transform unit 46 as inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform units. And. The quantization unit and the inverse quantization unit share a multiplication circuit and correspond to the forward / inverse quantization unit 44.

  The orthogonal transformation unit 42 performs orthogonal transformation on the difference obtained by the subtraction unit 4 and outputs the result to the forward / inverse quantization unit 44. The forward / inverse quantization unit 44 quantizes the orthogonal transformation result as a quantization unit, and outputs the obtained quantized data to the coefficient storage unit 8. Further, the forward / inverse quantization unit 44, as an inverse quantization unit, reads the quantized data from the coefficient storage unit 8, performs inverse quantization on the read data, and outputs the result to the inverse orthogonal transform unit 46. To do. The inverse orthogonal transform unit 46 performs inverse orthogonal transform on the result of the inverse quantization, and outputs the result to the reconstructed image generation unit 12.

  FIG. 31 is a timing chart for the quantization process and the inverse quantization process of FIG. As shown in FIG. 31, in step S4, processing is started in the order of primary orthogonal transformation, secondary orthogonal transformation, and quantization. In step S6, inverse quantization, primary inverse orthogonal transformation, and secondary inverse orthogonal transformation are performed. Processing is started in order. Since the inverse quantization process in step S6 is completed before the quantization process in step S4 is started, the circuit that performs the quantization process and the circuit that performs the inverse quantization process can be shared. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the number of multiplication circuits that perform quantization processing or inverse quantization processing, and to reduce costs.

  FIG. 32 is a block diagram illustrating a tenth modification of the image encoding device in FIG. 1. The image encoding device in FIG. 32 includes a control unit 1 and a data processing unit 1000. The data processing unit 1000 includes an input unit 302 and an in-plane prediction unit 316 instead of the input unit 2 and the in-plane prediction unit 16 in the data processing unit 400 of FIG. A calculation unit 54 is further provided. FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the image encoding device of FIG. FIG. 33 includes step S12 instead of step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 32, and further includes steps S22 and S24.

  In step S22 of FIG. 33, the variable length coding unit 52 performs variable length coding on the data output from the coefficient storage unit 8, and outputs the obtained code. In step S <b> 24, the code amount calculation unit 54 obtains the amount of code generated by the variable length encoding unit 52. In step S12, when the target code amount condition is satisfied, the in-plane prediction unit 316 performs in-plane prediction using the encoding target image instead of the reconstructed image. In this step, processing similar to that in step S2 is performed for other points.

  FIG. 34 is a timing chart illustrating an example of the timing of processing performed on each block in the image encoding device in FIG. 32. Here, the case of performing the block processing in the order of FIG. 4 is shown. As described with reference to FIG. 5, in the image encoding device in FIG. 1, for example, in order to process block B <b> 1, a reconstructed image of block B <b> 0 is necessary. On the other hand, in the image encoding device of FIG. 32, when the target code amount condition is satisfied, the reconstructed image of the block B0 is not necessary for the processing of the block B1. Therefore, it is possible to determine the prediction mode without waiting for the reconstructed image of the block B0 to be generated (see A in FIG. 34).

  In addition, after the code amount is obtained by the variable length coding unit 52, the in-plane prediction unit 316 may determine the type of supported prediction mode according to the obtained code amount. In this case, the input unit 302 selects and outputs each block in the order corresponding to the supported prediction mode. For example, when the target code amount condition is satisfied, the number of types of supported prediction modes is reduced, so that the in-plane prediction can be speeded up.

  FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the processing flow in the image encoding device in FIG. 32. FIG. 35 further includes step S26 in the flowchart of FIG. In step S26, the in-plane prediction unit 316 determines whether or not the used prediction mode is appropriate based on the code amount obtained by the code amount calculation unit 54, and if it is determined that the prediction mode is not appropriate. Then, the prediction mode is determined again and in-plane prediction is performed in a prediction mode different from the used prediction mode. According to this, it is possible to perform prediction in a more appropriate prediction mode and reduce the code amount.

  FIG. 36 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an imaging system having an image encoding device according to the present embodiment. The imaging system in FIG. 36 is, for example, a digital still camera, and includes an optical system 112, an image sensor 114, an analog / digital converter 116, an image processing circuit 118, a recording / transferring circuit 122, a reproduction circuit 124, A system control circuit 126 and a timing control circuit 128 are provided.

  The optical system 112 forms an image of incident light on the image sensor 114. The image sensor 114 is driven by the timing control circuit 128, accumulates the formed incident light (image), performs photoelectric conversion into an electric signal, and outputs an image signal corresponding to the incident light. The analog / digital converter 116 converts the image signal output from the image sensor 114 into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal to the image processing circuit 118.

  The image processing circuit 118 includes any of the image encoding devices according to the present embodiment described above. The image processing circuit 118 performs image processing such as Y / C processing, edge processing, image enlargement / reduction, and image compression / decompression processing (for example, image encoding processing as described in the present embodiment). The recording / transferring circuit 122 records or transfers the image-processed signal to a medium. The reproduction circuit 124 receives and reproduces the recorded or transferred signal. The system control circuit 126 controls the entire imaging system of FIG.

  Note that the analog / digital converter 116 or the image processing circuit 118 may receive an image signal from the outside, and the image processing circuit 118 may perform processing on the image signal.

  As described above, the present invention can speed up moving picture encoding with in-plane prediction, and is therefore useful for an image encoding apparatus and the like. For example, in a mobile phone with a camera, a digital still camera, and the like. Useful.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image coding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 1st example of a block required for in-plane prediction of an object block. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process order of the block in the case of FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the image encoding device of FIG. 1 in the case of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 2nd example of a block required for the in-plane prediction of an object block. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process order of the block in the case of FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the case of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 3rd example of a block required for the in-plane prediction of an object block. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process order of the block in the case of FIG. 11 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the case of FIG. 10. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 4th example of a block required for the in-plane prediction of an object block. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 5th example of a block required for the in-plane prediction of an object block. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 6th example of a block required for the in-plane prediction of an object block. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process order of the block in the case of FIG. 16 is a timing chart showing the timing of processing performed on each block in the case of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 1st modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a timing chart which shows the timing of the process performed with respect to each block in the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 2nd modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the pixel which the adjacent pixel memory | storage part of FIG. 19 memorize | stores. It is a block diagram which shows the 3rd modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 4th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 5th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 6th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 7th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing an example of processing timing for each block when processing luminance signals and color difference signals alternately. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the process order of the macroblock in the frame image to be processed. It is a timing chart which shows the example of the timing of the process with respect to each block in the case of processing a different macroblock alternately. It is a block diagram which shows the 8th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 9th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. It is a timing chart about the quantization process and inverse quantization process of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 10th modification of the image coding apparatus of FIG. Fig. 33 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the image encoding device in Fig. 32. FIG. 33 is a timing chart illustrating an example of timing of processing performed on each block in the image encoding device in FIG. 32. FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a process flow in the image encoding device of FIG. 32. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the imaging system which has an image coding apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. (A), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) are the in-plane predictions for a 4 × 4 pixel block of the luminance signal. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a mode, Comprising: Explanation about prediction mode 0, prediction mode 1, prediction mode 2, prediction mode 3, prediction mode 4, prediction mode 5, prediction mode 6, prediction mode 7, and prediction mode 8, respectively. FIG. (A), (b), (c), (d) is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the in-plane prediction mode with respect to the block of 8x8 pixels of a color difference signal, Comprising: Prediction mode 0, Prediction mode 1, respectively It is explanatory drawing about the prediction mode 2 and the prediction mode 3. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the process order of a block.

Explanation of symbols

1,401,501,801,901 Control unit 2,3,302 Input unit 4 Subtraction unit 6,206 Orthogonal transformation / quantization unit 7 Forward / inverse orthogonal transformation / forward / inverse quantization unit 8 Coefficient storage units 10, 210 Inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transformation unit 12 Reconstructed image generation unit 14 Reconstructed image storage unit 16,316 In-plane prediction unit 18 Adjacent pixel storage unit 32 Clock control unit 34 Selection unit 42 Orthogonal transformation unit 44 Forward / inverse quantization unit 46 Inverse orthogonal transform unit 52 Variable length coding unit 54 Code amount calculation unit 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000 Data processing unit

Claims (37)

An image encoding device that performs in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image,
A control unit that determines an order of processing the plurality of blocks according to a supported prediction mode;
A data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction in an optimal prediction mode of the prediction modes using pixels adjacent to each block for each of the plurality of blocks according to the order determined by the control unit. An image encoding apparatus comprising: The image encoding device according to claim 1,
The data processing unit
An input unit that outputs the plurality of blocks according to an order determined by the control unit;
A subtraction unit for obtaining a difference between the block output from the input unit and the predicted image;
An orthogonal transform / quantization unit that performs orthogonal transform and quantization on the difference;
A coefficient storage unit for storing the results obtained by the orthogonal transform / quantization unit;
A result obtained by the orthogonal transform / quantization unit is read from the coefficient storage unit, and an inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit that performs inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform on the read data;
A reconstructed image generating unit that obtains a reconstructed image by adding the prediction image and the result obtained by the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit;
A reconstructed image storage unit for storing the reconstructed image;
A surface that performs in-plane prediction in an optimal prediction mode among the supported prediction modes based on the reconstructed image and a block newly output from the input unit, and outputs the result as the prediction image An image coding apparatus comprising: an inner prediction unit. The image encoding device according to claim 2,
The data processing unit
Of the reconstructed image, further comprising an adjacent pixel storage unit that stores only pixels necessary for in-plane prediction,
The in-plane prediction unit
An image encoding apparatus using a pixel stored in the adjacent pixel storage unit as the reconstructed image. The image encoding device according to claim 2,
The data processing unit
A plurality of the coefficient storage units;
The image coding apparatus, wherein each of the coefficient storage units can operate independently. The image encoding device according to claim 4, wherein
The data processing unit
A plurality of the in-plane prediction units;
The controller is
An image coding apparatus that operates a number of the in-plane prediction units according to the number of supported prediction modes. The image encoding device according to claim 2,
The data processing unit
An image coding apparatus comprising a plurality of the orthogonal transform / quantization unit and the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit. The image encoding device according to claim 6, wherein
The controller is
Image coding characterized by operating the number of orthogonal transform / quantization units according to an input operation mode and the number of inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform units according to the input operation mode apparatus. The image encoding device according to claim 2,
The data processing unit
A plurality of the input units, and
An image encoding apparatus, further comprising: a selection unit that selects from outputs of the plurality of input units and outputs the selected output to the subtraction unit and the in-plane prediction unit. The image encoding device according to claim 8, wherein
The selection unit includes:
An image encoding apparatus that sequentially selects one by one from outputs of the plurality of input units. The image encoding device according to claim 8, wherein
The selection unit includes:
An image encoding apparatus that sequentially selects one by one from the outputs of the plurality of input units or selects an output of the designated input unit in accordance with an input image designation signal. The image encoding device according to claim 2,
The orthogonal transform / quantization unit
An orthogonal transform unit that performs orthogonal transform on the difference;
A quantization unit that performs quantization on the result of the orthogonal transform,
The inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit includes:
An inverse quantization unit that performs inverse quantization on the data read from the coefficient storage unit;
An inverse orthogonal transform unit that performs inverse orthogonal transform on the result of the inverse quantization,
The image coding apparatus, wherein the quantization unit and the inverse quantization unit share a multiplication circuit. The image encoding device according to claim 2,
The data processing unit
A variable length coding unit that performs variable length coding on the data read from the coefficient storage unit;
A code amount calculation unit for obtaining the amount of code generated by the variable length encoding unit,
The in-plane prediction unit
When the code amount obtained by the code amount calculation unit satisfies a target code amount condition, the image output from the input unit is used instead of the reconstructed image. An image encoding device. The image encoding device according to claim 12, wherein
The in-plane prediction unit
An image encoding apparatus that determines the type of the supported prediction mode according to the amount of code obtained by the code amount calculation unit. The image encoding device according to claim 12, wherein
The in-plane prediction unit
Based on the amount of code obtained by the code amount calculation unit, it is determined whether or not the used prediction mode is valid, and if it is determined that the used prediction mode is not valid, An image coding apparatus that performs in-plane prediction in a prediction mode different from the predicted mode. The image encoding device according to claim 1,
The controller is
An image encoding apparatus, wherein the supported prediction mode is determined according to an input operation mode. The image encoding device according to claim 1,
The data processing unit
An input unit that outputs the plurality of blocks according to an order determined by the control unit;
A subtraction unit for obtaining a difference between the block output from the input unit and the predicted image;
A forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization unit that performs orthogonal transform and quantization on the difference and performs inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform on the result;
A coefficient storage unit that stores a result of orthogonal transform and quantization performed by the forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization unit, and outputs the result to the forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization unit;
A reconstructed image generating unit that obtains a reconstructed image by adding the result of the inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform and the predicted image;
A reconstructed image storage unit for storing the reconstructed image;
A surface that performs in-plane prediction in an optimal prediction mode among the supported prediction modes based on the reconstructed image and a block newly output from the input unit, and outputs the result as the prediction image An image coding apparatus comprising: an inner prediction unit. The image encoding device according to claim 16, wherein
The data processing unit
An inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit that reads out the result of the orthogonal transform and quantization in the orthogonal transform / quantization unit from the coefficient storage unit, and performs inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform on the read data; In addition,
The controller is
An image coding apparatus that determines whether to operate the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform unit according to an input operation mode. An image encoding device that performs in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image,
A data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction using pixels adjacent to each block for the luminance signal and color difference signal of each of the plurality of blocks;
A control unit that controls in-plane prediction processing in the data processing unit,
The data processing unit
An image encoding apparatus characterized by alternately performing a process on a luminance signal and a process on a color difference signal. An image encoding device that performs in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image,
For each of the plurality of blocks, a data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction using pixels adjacent to each block;
A control unit that controls in-plane prediction processing in the data processing unit,
The data processing unit
An image encoding apparatus characterized by alternately performing processing on blocks belonging to different macroblocks. An image encoding method for performing in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image,
A control step for determining an order of processing the plurality of blocks according to a supported prediction mode;
A data processing step of performing in-plane prediction in an optimal prediction mode of the prediction modes using pixels adjacent to each block for each of the plurality of blocks according to the order determined in the control step. An image encoding method comprising: The image encoding method according to claim 20, wherein
The data processing step includes
An input step of selecting the plurality of blocks according to the order determined in the control step;
A subtraction step for obtaining a difference between the block selected in the input step and the predicted image;
Orthogonal transform and quantization step for performing orthogonal transform and quantization on the difference; and
A coefficient storage step for storing the result obtained in the orthogonal transform / quantization step;
An inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform step for reading the result obtained in the orthogonal transform / quantization step stored in the coefficient storage step and performing inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform on the read data; ,
A reconstructed image generating step of obtaining a reconstructed image by adding the result obtained in the inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform step and the predicted image;
A reconstructed image storing step for storing the reconstructed image;
Based on the reconstructed image and the block newly selected in the input step, in-plane prediction is performed in an optimal prediction mode among the supported prediction modes, and the result is obtained as the prediction image. An image encoding method comprising: a prediction step. The image encoding method according to claim 21, wherein
The data processing step includes
The reconstructed image further comprises an adjacent pixel storing step for storing only pixels necessary for in-plane prediction,
The in-plane prediction step includes:
An image encoding method, wherein the pixel stored in the adjacent pixel storing step is used as the reconstructed image. The image encoding method according to claim 21, wherein
The in-plane prediction step includes:
An image encoding method, wherein a number of in-plane prediction processes corresponding to the number of supported prediction modes are performed in parallel. The image encoding method according to claim 21, wherein
The orthogonal transform / quantization step includes:
Perform orthogonal transformation and quantization processing for multiple prediction modes in parallel,
The inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform step includes:
An image encoding method, wherein inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform processing for the plurality of prediction modes are performed in parallel. The image encoding method according to claim 24, wherein
The orthogonal transform / quantization step includes:
The number of orthogonal transformations and quantization processes corresponding to the input operation mode are performed in parallel,
The inverse quantization / inverse orthogonal transform step includes:
An image encoding method, wherein a number of inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform processes corresponding to the input operation mode are performed in parallel. The image encoding method according to claim 21, wherein
The data processing step includes
And further comprising a selection step,
The input step includes
It processes multiple images,
The selection step includes
Selecting from the plurality of images,
The subtraction step and the in-plane prediction step include:
An image encoding method, wherein the image selected in the selection step is processed. The image encoding method according to claim 26, wherein
The selection step includes
An image coding method comprising sequentially selecting one by one from the plurality of images. The image encoding method according to claim 26, wherein
The selection step includes
An image encoding method comprising: sequentially selecting one by one from the plurality of images or selecting a specified image according to an input image specifying signal. The image encoding method according to claim 21, wherein
The data processing step includes
A variable length encoding step for performing variable length encoding on the data stored and read in the coefficient storage step;
A code amount calculating step for obtaining the amount of code generated in the variable length encoding step,
The in-plane prediction step includes:
When the code amount obtained in the code amount calculation step satisfies a target code amount condition, the image selected in the input step is used instead of the reconstructed image. An image encoding method. The image encoding method according to claim 29, wherein
The in-plane prediction step includes:
An image encoding method comprising: determining a type of the supported prediction mode in accordance with a code amount obtained in the code amount calculation step. The image encoding method according to claim 29, wherein
The data processing step includes
Further comprising the step of determining whether the used prediction mode is valid based on the amount of code obtained in the code amount calculation step;
The in-plane prediction step includes:
An image coding method, wherein when it is determined that the used prediction mode is not valid, intra prediction is performed in a prediction mode different from the used prediction mode. The image encoding method according to claim 20, wherein
The control step includes
An image encoding method, wherein the supported prediction mode is determined according to an input operation mode. The image encoding method according to claim 20, wherein
The data processing step includes
An input step of selecting the plurality of blocks according to the order determined in the control step;
A subtraction step for obtaining a difference between the block selected in the input step and the predicted image;
A forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization step of performing orthogonal transformation and quantization on the difference and performing inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transformation on the result;
A coefficient storage step for storing the result of orthogonal transform and quantization in the forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization step, and for use in the forward / inverse orthogonal transform / forward / inverse quantization step;
A reconstructed image generation step of obtaining a reconstructed image by adding the result of the inverse quantization and inverse orthogonal transform and the predicted image; and
A reconstructed image storing step for storing the reconstructed image;
Based on the reconstructed image and the block newly selected in the input step, in-plane prediction is performed in an optimal prediction mode among the supported prediction modes, and the result is obtained as the prediction image. An image encoding method comprising: a prediction step. An image encoding method for performing in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image,
A data processing step of performing in-plane prediction using pixels adjacent to each block for each of the luminance signal and color difference signal of the plurality of blocks;
A control step for controlling in-plane prediction processing in the data processing step,
The data processing step includes
An image encoding method, wherein processing for a luminance signal and processing for a color difference signal are alternately performed. An image encoding method for performing in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting an image,
For each of the plurality of blocks, a data processing step of performing in-plane prediction using pixels adjacent to each block;
A control step for controlling in-plane prediction processing in the data processing step,
The data processing step includes
An image coding method characterized by alternately performing processing on blocks belonging to different macroblocks. An optical system for imaging incident light;
A sensor that outputs an image signal corresponding to incident light imaged by the optical system;
An image processing circuit for performing image processing on an image represented by the image signal,
The image processing circuit includes:
An image encoding device that performs in-plane prediction processing on a plurality of blocks constituting the image;
The image encoding device includes:
A control unit that determines an order of processing the plurality of blocks according to a supported prediction mode;
A data processing unit that performs in-plane prediction in an optimal prediction mode of the prediction modes using pixels adjacent to each block for each of the plurality of blocks according to the order determined by the control unit. An imaging system comprising: The imaging system according to claim 36,
An imaging system, further comprising an analog / digital converter that converts the image signal into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal to the image processing circuit.

Images