Chroma-from-luma mode selection for high-performance video encoding

A system comprising:

• a memory device;
• and
• one or more circuit groups communicatively coupled to the memory device, the one or more circuit groups to:
• receive one or more intra-prediction modes, each having a corresponding cost;
• calculate, for a first chroma component, a first cost of a chroma-from-luma intra-prediction mode, wherein to calculate the first cost, the one or more circuit groups are to:
• generate a first plurality of blocks of predicted pixels, wherein each block of predicted pixels corresponds to a different alpha value of a plurality of alpha values;
• calculate, for each block of the first plurality of blocks, a difference between the predicted pixels of the block and corresponding source pixels;
• calculate, for each block of the first plurality of blocks, a first block cost;
• and
• select, based on the calculated first block cost of each block of the first plurality of blocks, a first alpha value of the plurality of alpha values;
• and
• calculate, for a second chroma component, a second cost of the chroma-from-luma intra-prediction mode;
• calculate a final cost based on the first cost and the second cost;
• select, based on each corresponding cost of the one or more intra-prediction modes and the final cost, a final intra-prediction mode;
• generate, based on the selected final intra-prediction mode, a block of predicted pixels that approximates a block of source pixels of an image frame;
• and
• encoding the selected first alpha value in a bitstream.

A system comprising:

• a memory device;
• and
• a plurality of circuit groups communicatively coupled to the memory device, the plurality of circuit groups comprising:
• a first circuit group to:
• determine one or more intra-prediction modes, each having a corresponding cost;
• provide the one or more intra-prediction modes to a second circuit group;
• and
• the second circuit group communicatively coupled to the first circuit group, the second circuit group to:
• receive the one or more intra-prediction modes;
• calculate, for a first chroma component, a first cost of a chroma-from-luma intra-prediction mode, wherein to calculate the first cost, the second circuit group is to:
• generate a first plurality of blocks of predicted pixels, wherein each block of predicted pixels corresponds to a different alpha value of a plurality of alpha values;
• calculate, for each block of the first plurality of blocks, a difference between the predicted pixels of the block and corresponding source pixels;
• calculate, for each block of the first plurality of blocks, a first block cost;
• and
• select, based on the calculated first block cost of each block of the first plurality of blocks, a first alpha value of the plurality of alpha values;
• and
• calculate, for a second chroma component, a second cost of the chroma-from-luma intra-prediction mode;
• calculate a final cost based on the first code and the second cost;
• select, based on each corresponding cost of the one or more intra-prediction modes and the final cost, a final intra-prediction mode;
• generate, based on the selected final intra-prediction mode, a block of predicted pixels that approximates a block of source pixels of an image frame;
• and
• encode the selected first alpha value in a bitstream.