METHODS, APPARATUSES, AND PROGRAMS FOR ENCODING AND DECODING PICTURE

摘要

The purpose is to reduce the amount of coding operations and the amount of decoding operations to less than those in conventional intra split image coding, while minimizing reduction in coding efficiency. A split image generating section splits an input image to be coded, into blocks of identical size, collects pixels at identical relative positions within each of the blocks, and generates split images of respectively identical size. A portion of the split images undergo intra split image coding by an intra split image coding process section. An inter split image coding process section performs inter split image coding, using another already coded split image as a reference image. In the event there are a plurality of candidate reference images, a correlation direction calculating section derives, from among a combination of already coded split images and reference images thereof, that having the highest correction to the pixels in the original image, and a reference image selection section selects the already coded split image present in the direction of highest correlation to the split image to be coded, as the reference image to be used by the inter split image coding process section.