Quasi-constant-quality rate control with look-ahead

An apparatus for encoding received video data, the apparatus comprising:

• means for determining a first encoding complexity for a first portion of the video data;
• and
• means for encoding the first portion of video data at least partially based on the first encoding complexity.

The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the object is a macroblock or a frame.

An apparatus of encoding received video data, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured to determine a first encoding complexity for a first portion of the video data;
• and
• an encoder configured to encode the first portion of video data at least partially based on the first encoding complexity.

A computer program product embodied in a tangible medium with instructions for encoding received video data, the computer program product comprising:

• a module with instructions for determining a first encoding complexity for a first portion of the video data;
• and
• a module with instructions for encoding the first portion of video data at least partially based on the first encoding complexity.

The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the predetermined time period is about one second.

A method for encoding multimedia data comprising:

• encoding a first multimedia data corresponding to a selected window of data;
• and
• encoding a second multimedia data different than the first multimedia data, the second multimedia data corresponding to the selected window of data while re-encoding the first multimedia data.

An apparatus for encoding multimedia data comprising:

• means for encoding a first multimedia data corresponding to a selected window of data and a second multimedia data different than the first multimedia data, the second multimedia data corresponding to the selected window of data;
• and
• means for re-encoding the first multimedia data while the encoding means encodes the second multimedia data.

An apparatus for encoding multimedia data comprising:

• a first encoder configured to encode a first multimedia data corresponding to a selected window of data and to encode a second multimedia data different than the first multimedia data, the second multimedia data corresponding to the selected window of data;
• and
• a second encoder configured to re-encode the first multimedia data while the first encoder is encoding the second multimedia data.

A computer program product embodied in a tangible medium with instructions for encoding multimedia data comprising:

• a module with instructions for encoding a first multimedia data corresponding to a selected window of data and for encoding a second multimedia data different than the first multimedia data, the second multimedia data corresponding to the selected window of data;
• and
• a module with instructions for re-encoding the first multimedia data while the module with instructions for encoding is encoding the second multimedia data.