Method and apparatus for determining whether adjacent macroblocks are located in the same slice

A block-based digital image decoding apparatus capable of determining whether two adjacent macroblocks are located in the same slice, the block-based digital image being represented as an encoded bit-stream, each macroblock in the block-based digital image being assigned a sequence characteristic number, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory unit, providing a memory space to store and trace a slice changing point;
• and
• a processing unit, comprising:
• an initializing module, configured to initialize said slice changing point to a predetermined initial value;
• a tracing module, configured to set said slice changing point to a derived sequence characteristic number of a current macroblock when a current slice is determined to change by examining the encoded bit-stream, said derived sequence characteristic number being derived from said sequence characteristic number of the current macroblock;
• and
• a determining module, configured to determine whether the current macroblock and an adjacent macroblock of the current macroblock are located in the same slice according to a comparison result between said sequence characteristic number of the adjacent macroblock and said slice changing point;
• wherein said predetermined initial value is −1, and said derived sequence characteristic number is said sequence characteristic number of the current macroblock minus 1, and said determining module determines that the current macroblock and the adjacent macroblock are located in the same slice when said slice changing point is less than said sequence characteristic number of the adjacent macroblock.