Patent ID: 7715478
Filing Date: 2010-05-11
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for coding a moving picture comprising a plurality of pictures, each picture having a prescribed number of pixels, said method comprising: a level identifier output step of selecting a coding level which indicates a level of the coding processing for the moving picture and outputting a level identifier for identifying the selected coding level; a coded data generating step of generating coded data of the moving picture by coding the moving picture according to the selected coding level; and a coded sequence generating step of multiplexing the level identifier and the coded data to generate a code sequence; wherein the level identifier is an identifier that identifies i) a maximum in-frame pixel number which conforms to the selected coding level, the maximum in-frame pixel number being a maximum pixel number allowed for a picture of the moving picture, and ii) a maximum storage pixel number which conforms to the selected coding level, the maximum storage pixel number indicating an amount of data that can be stored in a picture memory; wherein said coded data generating step includes a predictive coding step of predictively coding a picture to be coded with reference to a reference picture which has been coded; wherein a maximum number of candidate reference pictures which can be stored in the picture memory is calculated based on a vertical pixel number and a horizontal pixel number of the moving picture which is to be coded and the maximum storage pixel number identified by the level identifier; and wherein the vertical pixel number (h) and the horizontal pixel number (w) of the moving picture satisfy the following condition: where the vertical pixel number (h) is a multiple of 16, and the horizontal pixel number (w) is a multiple of 16.