Fast intra-mode decision for depth map coding in 3D-HEVC

3D-high efficiency video coding (3D-HEVC) contains more encoding viewpoints than traditional HEVC, resulting in a significant increase of coding complexity. In this paper, we propose a low complexity intra mode decision algorithm to reduce the number of intra modes by detecting the flat area and texture direction of the depth map. The corresponding intra prediction modes are skipped when the flat region condition is satisfied. Otherwise, the direction of the edge is detected to decrease the number of angle modes in rough mode decision, which can reduce the intra-coding complexity and coding time cost. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves on average 36.48% time saving with negligible degradation of coding performance.