Systems and methods for improving mode decisions in hardware video encoders

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• generating, by a prediction module included in a hardware video encoding pipeline:
• using a primary prediction mode, a primary encode of a portion of a video stream;
• and
• using a secondary prediction mode, a secondary encode of a portion of a video stream;
• determining, by a rate-distortion optimization (RDO) module included in the hardware video encoding pipeline, a primary cost associated with the primary encode and a secondary cost associated with the secondary encode;
• determining, by a quality metric (QM) module included in the hardware video encoding pipeline, a primary QM associated with the primary encode and a secondary QM associated with the secondary encode;
• and
• by a decision module included in the hardware video encoding pipeline and comprising a hardware memory module:
• storing, within the hardware memory module, the primary QM, the secondary QM, the primary cost, and the secondary cost;
• and
• selecting, for encoding of the video stream, at least one of the primary prediction mode and the secondary prediction mode based on the primary cost, the secondary cost, the primary QM, and the secondary QM.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to direct:

• a prediction module, included in a hardware video encoding pipeline, to generate,
• using a primary prediction mode, a primary encode of a portion of a video stream;
• and
• using a secondary prediction mode, a secondary encode of the portion of the video stream;
• a rate-distortion optimization (RDO) module, included in the hardware video encoding pipeline, to determine a primary cost associated with the primary encode and a secondary cost associated with the secondary encode;
• a quality metric (QM) module, included in the hardware video encoding pipeline, to determine a primary QM associated with the primary encode and a secondary QM associated with the secondary encode;
• and
• a decision module, included in the hardware video encoding pipeline and comprising a hardware memory module, to:
• store, within the hardware memory module, the primary QM, the secondary QM, the primary cost, and the secondary cost;
• and
• select, for encoding of the video stream, at least one of the primary prediction mode and the secondary prediction mode based on the primary cost, the secondary cost, the primary QM, and the secondary QM.