# US 2019/0246136 A1 · Picture coding supporting block merging and skip mode > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0246136 A1 - Document ID: US20190246136A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/386,403 - Filed: 2019-04-17 - Published: 2019-08-08 - Earliest claimed: 2010-11-04 - Assignees: Ge Video Compression, LLC - Applicants: GE Video Compression LLC - Inventors: Heiko SCHWARZ; Heiner KIRCHHOFFER; Philipp HELLE; Simon OUDIN; Jan STEGEMANN; Benjamin BROSS; Detlev MARPE; Thomas WIEGAND - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190246136A1 ## CPC - H04N 19/52: by predictive encoding - H04N 19/103: Selection of coding mode or of prediction mode - H04N 19/13: Adaptive entropy coding, e.g. adaptive variable length coding [AVLC] or context adaptive binary arithmetic coding [CABAC] - H04N 19/159: Prediction type, e.g. intra-frame, inter-frame or bidirectional frame prediction - H04N 19/172: the region being a picture, frame or field - H04N 19/176: the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock - H04N 19/184: the unit being bits, e.g. of the compressed video stream - H04N 19/50: using predictive coding (H04N19/61 takes precedence) - H04N 19/70: characterised by syntax aspects related to video coding, e.g. related to compression standards - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract A coding efficiency increase is achieved by using a common signalization within the bitstream with regard to activation of merging and activation of the skip mode. One possible state of one or more syntax elements within the bitstream may signalize for a current sample set of a picture that the sample set is to be merged and has no prediction residual encoded and inserted into the bitstream. A common flag may signalize whether the coding parameters associated with a current sample set are to be set according to a merge candidate or to be retrieved from the bitstream, and whether the current sample set of the picture is to be reconstructed based on a prediction signal depending on the coding parameters associated with the current sample set, without any residual data, or to be reconstructed by refining the prediction signal depending on the coding parameters associated with the current sample set by means of residual data within the bitstream. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A decoder configured to decode a data stream having a video encoded therein, comprising: a memory; and a hardware apparatus communicatively coupled with the memory configured to: extract, from the data stream, first information associated with a coding block of the video, wherein the first information has first and second states, the first state indicates that (1) the coding block is to be reconstructed based on a coding parameter of a first merge candidate coding block and (2) the coding block is to be reconstructed without residual data, based on the first information being in the first state, extract, from the data stream, second information associated with the coding block, the second information specifying the first merge candidate coding block, obtain a predicted coding block based on the coding parameter of the first merge candidate coding block, and reconstruct the coding block based on the predicted coding block, based on the first information being in the second state, extract, from the data stream, residual data and third information associated with the coding block, the third information having its first and second states of inter mode coding, based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, which indicates that at least a sub-block of the coding block is to be reconstructed based on a second merge candidate coding block, obtain a set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, based on the third information being in the second state of the third information, which indicates that the sub-block is to be reconstructed based on a coding parameter associated with the sub-block encoded in the data stream, extract the coding parameter from the data stream, and reconstruct, in accordance with the inter mode coding, the sub-block based either on the residual data and the set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, or the residual data and the coding parameter associated with the sub-block extracted from the data stream. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The decoder of claim 1, wherein the hardware apparatus is further configured to: extract, from the data stream when the first information is in the second state, partitioning information associated with the coding block that indicates that the coding block is to be partitioned into one of a plurality of partitioning patterns, and divide the coding block into a set of coding sub-blocks in accordance with the partitioning information, wherein the set of coding sub-blocks forms the one of the plurality of partitioning patterns. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The decoder of claim 1, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with color components of the video. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The decoder of claim 1, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with values related to a depth map. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The decoder of claim 1, wherein the second information specifies the first merge candidate coding block out of a plurality of merge candidate coding blocks. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The decoder of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of merge candidate coding blocks is spatially or temporally neighboring the coding block. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The decoder of claim 1, wherein the hardware apparatus is configured to, based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, extract an index identifying the second merge candidate coding block out of a plurality of merge candidate coding blocks. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The decoder of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of merge candidate coding blocks is spatially or temporally neighboring the coding block. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The decoder of claim 1, wherein the hardware apparatus is configured to: generate a predicted coding sub-block based on the set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, or the extracted coding parameter associated with the sub-block, and reconstruct the coding sub-block based on the predicted coding sub-block to obtain a portion of the video. ### Claim 10 A method for decoding a data stream having a video encoded therein, comprising: extracting, from the data stream, first information associated with a coding block of the video, wherein the first information has first and second states, the first state indicates that (1) the coding block is to be reconstructed based on a coding parameter of a first merge candidate coding block and (2) the coding block is to be reconstructed without residual data; based on the first information being in the first state, extracting, from the data stream, second information associated with the coding block, the second information specifying the first merge candidate coding block, obtaining a predicted coding block based on the coding parameter of the first merge candidate coding block, and reconstructing the coding block based on the predicted coding block; based on the first information being in the second state, extracting, from the data stream, residual data and third information associated with the coding block, the third information having its first and second states of inter mode coding; based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, which indicates that at least a sub-block of the coding block is to be reconstructed based on a second merge candidate coding block, obtaining a set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block; based on the third information being in the second state of the third information, which indicates that the sub-block is to be reconstructed based on a coding parameter associated with the sub-block encoded in the data stream, extracting the coding parameter from the data stream; and reconstructing, in accordance with the inter mode coding, the sub-block based either on the residual data and the set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, or the residual data and the coding parameter associated with the sub-block extracted from the data stream. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: extracting, from the data stream when the first information is in the second state, partitioning information associated with the coding block that indicates that the coding block is to be partitioned into one of a plurality of partitioning patterns, and dividing the coding block into a set of coding sub-blocks in accordance with the partitioning information, wherein the set of coding sub-blocks forms the one of the plurality of partitioning patterns. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with color components of the video. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with values related to a depth map. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the second information specifies the first merge candidate coding block out of a plurality of merge candidate coding blocks. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of merge candidate coding blocks is spatially and/or temporally neighboring the coding block. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising, based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, extracting an index identifying the second merge candidate coding block out of a plurality of merge candidate coding blocks. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of merge candidate coding blocks is spatially and/or temporally neighboring the coding block. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: generating a predicted coding sub-block based on the set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, or the extracted coding parameter associated with the sub-block; and reconstructing the coding sub-block based on the predicted coding sub-block to obtain a portion of the video. ### Claim 19 An encoder configured to encode a video into a data stream, comprising: a memory; and a hardware apparatus communicatively coupled with the memory configured to: code, into the data stream, first information associated with a coding block, wherein the first information has first and second states, the first state indicates that (1) the coding block is to be reconstructed based on a coding parameter of a first merge candidate coding block and (2) the coding block is to be reconstructed without residual data, determine, based on the first information being in the first state, second information which specifies the first merge candidate coding block, code, into the data stream based on the first information being in the first state, the second information and the coding parameter associated with the first merge candidate coding block, wherein the coding parameter of the first merge candidate coding block is used to obtain a predicted coding block based on the coding parameter of the first merge candidate coding block, and reconstruct the coding block based on the predicted coding block without residual data when the first information is in the first state, code, into the data stream based on the first information being in the second state, residual data and third information associated with the coding block, the third information having a first state of the third information indicating that at least a sub-block of the coding block is to be reconstructed using inter mode coding based on a second merge candidate coding block, and a second state of the third information indicating that the sub-block is to be reconstructed using the inter mode coding based on a coding parameter associated with the sub-block from the data stream, code, into the data stream based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, a set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, and code, into the data stream based on the third information being in the second state of the third information, the coding parameter associated with the sub-block, wherein the sub-block is reconstructed, in accordance with the inter mode coding, based either on the residual data and the set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, or the residual data and the coding parameter associated with the sub-block. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The encoder of claim 19, wherein the hardware apparatus is further configured to: code, into the data stream based on the first information being in the second state, partitioning information associated with the coding block that indicates that the coding block is partitioned into one of a plurality of partitioning patterns, wherein the coding block is sub-divided into a set of coding sub-blocks in accordance with the partitioning information. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The encoder of claim 19, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with color components of the video. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The encoder of claim 19, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with values related to a depth map. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The encoder of claim 19, wherein the second information indicates the first merge candidate coding block out of a plurality of merge candidate coding blocks. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The encoder of claim 23, wherein each of the plurality of merge candidate coding blocks is spatially or temporally neighboring the coding block. ### Claim 25 (depends on 19) The encoder of claim 19, wherein the hardware apparatus is configured to, based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, code into the data stream an index identifying the second merge candidate coding block out of a plurality of merge candidate coding blocks. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The encoder of claim 25, wherein each of the plurality of merge candidate coding blocks is spatially or temporally neighboring the coding block. ### Claim 27 A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a data stream having a video encoded therein, the data stream comprising: first information associated with a coding block, wherein the first information has first and second states, the first state indicates that (1) the coding block is to be reconstructed based on a coding parameter of a first merge candidate coding block and (2) the coding block is to be reconstructed without residual data; based on the first information being in the first state, second information specifying the first merge candidate coding block and the coding parameter associated with the first merge candidate coding block, wherein the coding parameter of the first merge candidate coding block is used to obtain a predicted coding block based on the coding parameter of the first merge candidate coding block, and reconstruct the coding block based on the predicted coding block without residual data when the first information is in the first state; based on the first information being in the second state, residual data and third information associated with the coding block, the third information having a first state of the third information indicating that at least a sub-block of the coding block is to be reconstructed using inter mode coding based on a second merge candidate coding block, and a second state of the third information indicating that the sub-block is to be reconstructed using inter mode coding based on a coding parameter associated with the sub-block from the data stream; based on the third information being in the first state of the third information, a set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block mode; and based on the third information being in the second state of the third information, the coding parameter associated with the sub-block, wherein the sub-block is reconstructed, in accordance with the inter mode coding, based either on the residual data and the set of coding parameters associated with the second merge candidate coding block, or the residual data and the coding parameter associated with the sub-block. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27, the data stream further comprising, when the first information is in the second state, partitioning information associated with the coding block that indicates that the coding block is to be partitioned into one of a plurality of partitioning patterns. ### Claim 29 (depends on 27) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with color components of the video. ### Claim 30 (depends on 27) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the data stream comprises at least a portion associated with values related to a depth map.