Enhanced deblocking filtering design in video coding

An apparatus for encoding video data, the apparatus comprising:

• one or more storage media configured to store the video data;
• and
• one or more processing circuits coupled to the one or more storage media, the one or more processing circuits configured to:
• reconstruct pixels of a current block of a current picture of the video data;
• apply a deblocking filter to the reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture to derive deblocking-filtered reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture;
• calculate distortion values based on values of the deblocking-filtered reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture and original pixels of the current block of the current picture;
• and
• select, based on the calculated distortion values, an encoding mode for the current block of the current picture, the encoding mode for the current block of the current picture being a partitioning mode for the current block of the current picture or a coding unit mode for the current block of the current picture.

An apparatus for encoding video data, the apparatus comprising:

• means for reconstructing pixels of a current block of a current picture of video data;
• means for applying a deblocking filter to the reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture to derive deblocking-filtered reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture;
• means for calculating distortion values based on values of the deblocking-filtered reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture and original pixels of the current block of the current picture;
• and
• means for selecting, based on the calculated distortion values, an encoding mode for the current block of the current picture, the encoding mode for the current block of the current picture being a partitioning mode for the current block of the current picture or a coding unit mode for the current block of the current picture.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

• reconstruct pixels of a current block of a current picture of video data;
• apply a deblocking filter to the reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture to derive deblocking-filtered reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture;
• calculate distortion values based on values of the deblocking-filtered reconstructed pixels of the current block of the current picture and original pixels of the current block of the current picture;
• and
• select, based on the calculated distortion values, an encoding mode for the current block of the current picture, the encoding mode for the current block of the current picture being a partitioning mode for the current block of the current picture or a coding unit mode for the current block of the current picture.