Patent ID: 8306110
Filing Date: 2012-11-06
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A moving image coding apparatus configured to perform coding using inter picture prediction, the moving image coding apparatus comprising: a quantization unit configured to quantize a difference value between input image data and prediction image data; a coding unit configured to perform an entropy-coding of the difference value quantized by the quantization unit; a buffer occupancy control unit configured to update an occupancy of a virtual buffer that is a virtual buffer in a decoder based on a code amount generated by the coding unit, and control the quantization unit based on the occupancy of the virtual buffer; and a copy picture generation unit configured to replace a first picture with a copy picture if the occupancy of the virtual buffer is below a predetermined position when the first picture is coded by the coding unit, and replace, among succeeding pictures that refer to a reference image corresponding to the first picture for the inter picture prediction, a second picture whose quantization has been started or completed by the quantization unit, with the copy picture, wherein the buffer occupancy control unit controls the quantization unit such that code generation amounts of the succeeding pictures that have not yet been quantized are suppressed until a next Intra picture is quantized in a case where, as the first picture, the Intra picture is replaced with the copy picture.