Method and apparatus in video coding for machines

A method for video coding, comprising:

• determining, by a processing circuit, a first picture quality vs. coding efficiency characteristic for a first coding scheme of video coding for machines (VCM), wherein the first picture quality vs. coding efficiency characteristic includes plural first picture quality vs. coding efficiency curves for the first coding scheme;
• determining, by the processing circuit, a second picture quality vs. coding efficiency characteristic for a second coding scheme of VCM, wherein the second picture quality vs. coding efficiency characteristic includes plural second picture quality vs. coding efficiency curves for the first coding scheme;
• computing a first Pareto front curve of the plural first picture quality vs. coding efficiency curves for the first coding scheme;
• computing a second Pareto front curve of the plural second picture quality vs. coding efficiency curves for the second coding scheme;
• determining, by the processing circuit, a Bjøntegaard delta (BD) metric for a comparison of the first coding scheme and the second coding scheme, based on the computed first Pareto front curve for the first coding scheme and the computed second Pareto front curve for the second coding scheme;
• and
• selecting, for use in a video encoder, one of the first coding scheme of VCM or the second coding scheme of VCM based on the BD metric indicating the comparison of the first coding scheme and the second coding scheme.