Patent Publication Number: US-2012033040-A1

Title: Filter Selection for Video Pre-Processing in Video Applications

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/170,995, filed on Apr. 20, 2009, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/223,027, filed on Jul. 4, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/242,242, filed on Sep. 14, 2009, all hereby incorporated by reference in each entireties. The present application may also be related to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/140,886, filed on Dec. 25, 2008, incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to video applications. More in particular, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and devices for selection of pre-processing filters and filter parameters given the knowledge of a base layer (BL) to enhancement layer (EL) prediction process occurring in the EL decoder and encoder. The methods and devices can be applied to various applications such as, for example, spatially or temporally scalable video coding, and scalable 3D video applications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a scalable video encoding architecture comprising a base layer (BL) encoding section and an enhancement layer (EL) encoding section. 
         FIG. 2  shows a decoding architecture corresponding to the encoding system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows an open loop process for performing pre-processor optimization. 
         FIG. 4  shows a closed loop process for performing pre-processor optimization. 
         FIG. 5  shows a further example of closed loop process where simplified encoding occurs. 
         FIG. 6  shows a pre-processing filter stage preceded by a sequence/image analysis stage. 
         FIG. 7  shows pre-processing filter selection through feedback received from the EL encoder. 
         FIG. 8  shows an architecture where pre-processing filter parameters are predicted based on the filters used for the previous images. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     Methods and devices for selection of pre-processing filters are described. 
     According to a first embodiment, a method for selecting a pre-processing filter for video delivery is provided, comprising: inputting one or more input images into a plurality of pre-processing filters; processing the output of each pre-processing filter to form, for each pre-processing filter, an output image or data stream; for each pre-processing filter, evaluating a metric of the output image or data stream; and selecting a pre-processing filter among the plurality of pre-processing filters based on the evaluated metric for each pre-processing filter. 
     According to a second embodiment, a method for selecting a pre-processing filter for video delivery is provided, comprising: analyzing an input image; selecting a region of the input image; evaluating whether a new selection for a pre-processing filter for the selected region has to be made; if a new selection has to be made, selecting a pre-processing filter; and if no new selection has to be made, selecting a previously selected pre-processing filter. 
     According to a third embodiment, a pre-processing filter selector for video delivery is provided, comprising: a plurality of pre-processing filters adapted to receive an input image; processing modules to process the output of each pre-processing filter to form an output image or data stream; metrics evaluation modules to evaluate, for each pre-processing filter, a metric of the output image or data stream; and a pre-processing filter selector to select a pre-processing filter among the plurality of pre-processing filters based on the evaluated metric for each pre-processing filter by the distortion modules. 
     According to a fourth embodiment, an encoder for encoding a video signal according to the method or methods recited above is provided. 
     According to a fifth embodiment, an apparatus for encoding a video signal according to the method or methods recited above is provided. 
     According to a sixth embodiment, a system for encoding a video signal according to the method or methods recited above is provided. 
     According to a seventh embodiment, a computer-readable medium containing a set of instructions that causes a computer to perform the method or methods recited above is provided. 
     According to an eighth embodiment, the use of the method or methods recited above to encode a video signal is provided. 
     One method for scalable video delivery is to subsample the original video to a lower resolution and to encode the subsampled data in a base layer (BL) bitstream. The base layer decoded video can then be upsampled to obtain a prediction of the original full resolution video. The enhancement layer (EL) can use this prediction as a reference and encode the residual information that is required to recover the original full resolution video. The resolution subsampling can occur in the spatial, temporal and pixel precision domains. See, for example, J. R. Ohm, “Advances in Scalable Video Coding,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 93, no. 1, January 2005. Scalable video delivery may also be related to bitdepth scalability, as well as 3D or multiview scalability. 
     While the figures and some embodiments of the present application make reference to a single enhancement layer, the present disclosure is also directed to cases where more than one enhancement layer is present, to further improve the quality of the decoded video, or to improve the functionality/flexibility/complexity of the video delivery system. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example of such a scalable video coding system where, by way of example, only one enhancement layer is used. The BL (Base Layer) to EL (Enhancement Layer) predictor module ( 110 ) predicts the EL from the reconstructed BL video and inputs the prediction as a reference to the EL encoder ( 120 ). 
     In the case of stereo or multi-view video data transmission, the subsampling can be a result of interleaving of different views into one image for the purpose of transmission over existing video delivery pipelines. For example, checkerboard, line-by-line, side-by-side, over-under, are some of the techniques used to interleave two stereoscopic 3D views into one left/right interleaved image for the purpose of delivery. In each case, different sub-sampling methods may also be used such as quincunx, horizontal, vertical, etc. 
     U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/140,886 filed on Dec. 25, 2008 and incorporated herein both by reference and as Annex A shows a number of content adaptive interpolation techniques that can be used within the BL to EL predictor block ( 110 ) of  FIG. 1 . Additionally, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/170,995 filed on Apr. 20, 2009 and incorporated herein both by reference and as Annex B shows directed interpolation techniques, in which the interpolation schemes are adapted depending on content and the image region to be interpolated, and the optimal filters are signaled as metadata to the enhancement layer decoder. 
       FIG. 2  shows the corresponding decoder architecture for the BL and EL. The BL to EL predictor ( 210 ) on the decoder side uses the base layer reconstructed images ( 220 ) along with guided interpolation metadata ( 230 )—corresponding to the predictor metadata ( 130 ) of FIG.  1 —to generate a prediction ( 240 ) of the EL. Predictor metadata are discussed more in detail in U.S. Provisional 61/170,995 filed on Apr. 20, 2009, incorporated herein by reference. 
     Turning back to  FIG. 1 , the creation of the BL and EL images can be preceded by pre-processing modules ( 140 ), ( 150 ). Pre-processing is applied to images or video prior to compression in order to improve compression efficiency and attenuate artifacts. The pre-processing module can, for example, comprise a downsampling filter that is designed to remove artifacts such as aliasing from the subsampled images. The downsampling filters can be fixed finite impulse response (FIR) filters such as those described in W. Li, J-R. Ohm, M. van der Schaar, H. Jiang and S. Li, “MPEG-4 Video Verification Model Version 18.0,” ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11N3908, January 2001, motion compensated temporal filters such as those described in E. Dubois and S. Sabri, “Noise Reduction in Image Sequences Using Motion-Compensated Temporal Filtering,” IEEE Trans. on Communications, Vol. COM-32, No. 7, July 1984, or adaptive filters such as those described in S. Chang, B. Yu, and M. Vetterli, “Adaptive Wavelet Thresholding for Image Denoising and Compression,” IEEE Trans. On Image Processing, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 1532-1546, September 2000. The downsampling filters can also be jointly optimized with a particular upsampling/interpolation process such as that described in Y. Tsaig, M. Elad, P. Milanfar, and G. Golub, “Variable Projection for Near-Optimal Filtering in Low Bit-Rate Coders,” IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 154-160, January 2005. 
     In the following figures, embodiments of methods and devices for selection of pre-processing filters and filter parameters given the knowledge of the prediction process from one layer to the other (e.g., BL to EL) will be described. In particular, the embodiment of  FIG. 3  contains a hypothesis for how the BL to EL prediction will be performed. Such hypothesis is not based on the prediction from the actual BL reconstructed images after compression and is instead based on the prediction from the uncompressed images (open loop). On the other hand, the embodiments of  FIG. 4  relate on prediction from BL reconstructed images after compression (closed loop). As shown in  FIG. 5 , however, a simplified compression may be used for the purpose of reducing the complexity of the filter selection process. The simplified compression approximates the behavior of the full compression process, and allows the consideration of coding artifacts and bit rates that may be introduced by the compression process. 
       FIG. 3  shows an embodiment of a pre-processor and pre-processing optimization method in accordance with the disclosure. An optional region selection module ( 310 ) separates an input image or source ( 320 ) into multiple regions. An example of such region selection module is described in U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/170,995 filed on Apr. 20, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference and as Annex B. Separation of the input image into multiple regions allows a different pre-processing and adaptive interpolation to be performed in each region given the content characteristics of that region. 
     For each region, a search for the optimal pre-processing filter is performed over a set of filters  1 -N denoted as ( 330 - 1 ), ( 330 - 2 ), ( 330 - 3 ), . . . , ( 330 -N). The pre-processing filters can be separable or non-separable filters, FIR filters, with different support lengths, directional filters such as horizontal, vertical or diagonal filters, frequency domain filters such as wavelet or discrete cosine transform (DCT) based filters, edge adaptive filters, motion compensated temporal filters, etc. 
     The output of each filter ( 330 - i ) is then subsampled to the resolution for the BL in respective subsampling modules ( 340 - 1 ), ( 340 - 2 ), ( 340 - 3 ), . . . , ( 340 -N). 
     The person skilled in the art will also understand that other embodiments of the pre-processing filters and subsampling modules are also possible, e.g., the pre-processing filters and the subsampling modules can be integrated together in a single component or the pre-processing filters can follow the subsampling modules instead of preceding them as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     In the case of a 3D stereoscopic scalable video coding system, the subsampled output of each filter is then sent through a 3D interleaver to create subsampled 3D interleaved images that will be part of the base layer video. An example of a 3D interleaver can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,000, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. On the other hand, in a non-3D case, a decimator can be provided. Then, the subsampled images are adaptively upsampled using methods such as those described in U.S. Provisional 61/140,886 and U.S. Provisional 61/170,995. The 3D interleaver or decimator and the adaptive upsampling (or, more generally, a technique that processes the subsampled output to form an output image or bitstream) are generically represented as blocks ( 350 - 1 ), ( 350 - 2 ), ( 350 - 3 ), . . . , ( 350 -N) in  FIG. 3 . As shown in the figure, the adaptive interpolation also uses the original unfiltered information to determine the best interpolation filter. Such information is output from the region selection module ( 310 ). 
     In the distortion calculation modules ( 360 - 1 ), ( 360 - 2 ), ( 360 - 3 ), . . . , ( 360 -N), the upsampled images are compared to the original input source and a distortion measure is computed between the original and the processed images. Distortion metrics such as mean squared error (MSE), peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), as well as perceptual distortion metrics that are more tuned to human visual system characteristics may be used for this purpose. 
     A filter selection module ( 370 ) compares the distortion characteristics of each pre-processing filter ( 330 - i ) and selects the optimal pre-processor filter for encoding of that region of the video. The output of the selected filter is then downsampled ( 385 ) and further sent through the encoding process ( 390 ). Alternatively, the block  370  can select among already downsampled outputs of the filters instead of selecting among the filters. In such case, the downsampling module  385  will not be needed. 
     The filter selection module ( 370 ) may also receive as input ( 380 ) additional region-based statistics such as texture, edge information, etc. from the region selector ( 310 ), which can help with the filter decisions. For example, depending on the region, the weights given to the distortion estimates of one filter may be increased over another. 
     The open loop process of  FIG. 3  is not optimal, in the sense that in an actual system, as the one depicted in  FIG. 1 , the adaptive interpolation for BL to EL prediction occurs on the decoder reconstructed BL images and not on the original pre-processed content. The open loop process, however, is less computationally intensive and can be performed “offline” prior to the actual encoding of the content. 
     The person skilled in the art will also understand that the embodiment of  FIG. 3  is not specific to a scalable architecture. Moreover, such embodiment can be applied only to the EL, only to the BL, or both the EL and the BL. Still further, different pre-processors can be used for the BL and EL, if desired. In the case of EL pre-processing, downsampling can still occur on the samples, e.g., samples that were not contained in the BL. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a further embodiment of the present disclosure, where a closed-loop process for performing pre-processor optimization is shown. In particular, an encoding step ( 450 - i ) is provided for the subsampled output of each filter ( 430 - i ). In the encoding step ( 450 - i ) each output of the filters is fully encoded and then reconstructed ( 455 - i ), for example according to the scheme of  FIG. 1 . In the case of scalable video encoding, such encoding comprises BL encoding, adaptive interpolation for BL to EL prediction, and EL encoding.  FIG. 4  shows an example where both EL filters ( 435 - 11 ) . . . ( 435 - 1 M) are provided for BL filter ( 430 - 1 ) and so on, up to BL filter ( 430 -N), for which EL filters ( 435 -N 1 ) . . . ( 435 -NM) are provided. 
     The encoded and reconstructed bitstreams at the output of modules ( 455 - i ) are used for two purposes: i) calculation of distortions ( 460 - i ) and ii) inputs ( 465 ) of the filter selection module ( 470 ). In particular, the filter selection module ( 470 ) will select one of the inputs ( 465 ) as output encoded bitstream ( 490 ) according to the outputs of the distortion modules ( 460 - i ). More specifically, the filter that shows the least distortion for each region is selected as the pre-processor. 
     Filter optimization according to the embodiment of  FIG. 4  can also consider the target or resulting bit rate, in addition to the distortion. In other words, depending on the filter selected, the encoder may require a different number of bits to encode the images. Therefore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the optimal filter selection can consider the bits required for encoding, in addition to the distortion after encoding and/or post-processing. This can be formulated as an optimization problem where the objective is to minimize the distortion subject to a bit rate constraint. A possible technique for doing that is Lagrangian optimization. Such process occurs in the filter selection module ( 470 ) and uses i) the distortion computed in the D modules ( 460 - i ) and ii) the bit rates available from the encode modules ( 450 - i ). 
     More generally, optimization based on one or more of several types of metrics can also be performed. These metrics can include distortion and/or bit rate mentioned above, but can also be extended to cost, power, time, computational complexity and/or other types of metrics. 
     While the method discussed in the above paragraph will provide the rate-distortion optimal filter results, it is highly computationally intensive. Several methods for reducing the computational burden of such embodiment will be discussed in the next figures. 
       FIG. 5  shows an alternative embodiment where, for each potential filter selection, instead of computing the true encoded and decoder reconstructed image, a simplified encoding ( 550 - i ) and reconstruction is used as an estimate of the true decoder reconstruction. 
     For example, full complexity encoding ( 575 ) can be performed only after the filter selection ( 570 ) has been completed. Then, the simplified encoders ( 550 - i ) can be updated using, for example, the motion and reconstructed image information ( 577 ) from the full complexity encoder ( 575 ). For example, the reference picture buffers (see elements  160 ,  170  of  FIG. 1 ) of the simplified encoders can be updated to contain the reconstructed images from the simplified encoder. Similarly, the motion information generated at the full encoder for previous regions can be used in the disparity estimation module of the simplified encoders ( 550 - i ). By way of example, the simplified encoder could create a model based on intra only encoding that uses the same quantization parameters used from the full complexity encoder. Alternatively, the simplified encoder could use filtering that is based on a frequency relationship to quantization parameters used, e.g., by creation of a quantization parameter-to-frequency model. Additionally, should higher accuracy be required, a mismatch between simplified and full complexity encoders could be used to further update the model. 
     Simplified encoding performed by blocks ( 550 - i ) prior to filter selection can be, for example, intra-only encoding in order to eliminate complexity of motion estimation and compensation. On the other hand, if motion estimation is used, then sub-pixel motion estimation may be disabled. A further alternative can be that of using a low complexity rate distortion optimization method instead of exploring all possible coding decisions during compression. Additional filters such as loop filters and post-processing filters may be disabled or simplified. To perform simplification, one can either turn the filter off completely, or limit the number of samples that are used for filtering. It is also possible to tune the filter parameters such that the filter will be used less often and/or use a simplified process to decide whether the filter will be used for a particular block edge. Additionally, filters used for some chroma components may be disabled and estimated based on those used for other chroma or luma components. Also, in another embodiment, the filter selection can be optimized for a sub-region (e.g., the central part of each region), instead of optimizing over an entire region. In some cases, the simplified encoder may also perform the encoding at a lower resolution or at a lower rate distortion optimization (RDO) complexity. Moreover, disparity estimation can be constrained to only measure the disparity in full pixel units instead of sub-pixel units. Simplified entropy coding (VLC module) can also be used. Still further, only the luma component for the image can be encoded, and the distortion and rate for the chroma component can be estimated as a function of the luma. In another embodiment, the simplified encoding may simply be a prediction process that models the output of blocks  550 - i  based on the previous output of the full encoder (block  575 ). 
     All of the above options can occur in the simplified encoders ( 550 - i ). In other words, the simplified encoders ( 550 - i ) can comprise all of the encoding modules shown in  FIG. 1  and each of those modules can be simplified (alone or in combination) as described above, trying to keep the output not significantly different from the output of a full encoder. 
       FIG. 6  shows a further embodiment of the present disclosure, where a pre-processing filter stage ( 610 ) is preceded by a sequence/image analysis stage ( 620 ). The analysis stage ( 620 ) can determine a reduced set ( 630 ) of pre-processing filters to be used in the optimization. The image/sequence analysis block ( 620 ) can comprise a texture and/or variance (in the spatial domain and/or over time) computation to determine the type of filters that are necessary for the particular application at issue. For example, smooth regions of the image may not require any pre-filtering at all prior to encoding. Some regions may require both spatial and temporal filtering while others may only require spatial or temporal filtering. In the case of bitdepth scalability, the tonemapping curves may be optimized for each region. If directional filters are used, the image analysis module ( 620 ) may include edge analysis to determine whether directional filters should be included in the optimization and if so, to determine the dominant directions along which to perform the filtering. If desired, these techniques can be incorporated also in the region selection module. Also, an early termination criterion may be used by which if a filter is shown to provide a rate-distortion performance above a specified threshold, no further filters are evaluated in the optimization. Such method can be easily combined with the image analysis to further reduce the number of filters over which a search is performed. 
       FIG. 7  shows yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, where the pre-processing filter selection ( 710 ) is aided by additional feedback ( 740 ) (in addition to the distortion measure) received from the enhancement layer encoder ( 720 ). For example, the feedback could include information on the adaptive upsampling filter parameters used in order to generate the BL to EL prediction. As a consequence, the downsampling filter selection can be adapted to suit the best performing adaptive upsampling filter from the previous stage of optimization. This may also aid in the selection of regions for pre-processing. 
     For example, the image can be separated into multiple smaller regions and, in the initial stage, a different pre-processing filter can be assumed for each region. Such embodiment can be useful in a simplified system where no prior image analysis is done. In such case, the upsampling information (e.g., whether the upsampler selected the same upsampling filter for multiple regions) can be treated as an indication of how the best downsampling filter selection should also behave. For example, if the upsampling filters are the same for the entire image, maybe it is not necessary to partition the image into regions and optimize the downsampling filters separately for each region. 
     After encoding the BL in module ( 730 ), however, the BL to EL prediction optimization may determine that the same upsampling filter was sufficient for the prediction of multiple regions of the image. In that case, the pre-processor can also be adapted to choose the same, or similar, pre-processing filter for those regions. This will reduce the number of regions over which the entire closed loop optimization needs to be performed, and therefore reduce the computation time of the process. More generally, this step can apply also to configurations different from BL/EL configurations. 
     The computational burden of the pre-processor optimization can be further reduced by prediction of the pre-processing filter parameters based on the filters used for previous images, or image regions, of the sequence.  FIG. 8  illustrates an example of such system. 
     For example, the pre-processor optimization ( 810 ) can be performed once every N images/regions where N is fixed or adapted based on the available computing resources and time. In one embodiment, the decision ( 830 ) of whether to use previously optimized filter parameters can be dependent on information obtained from the image analysis module ( 820 ) (see also the image analysis module ( 620 ) of  FIG. 6 ). For example, if two images, or image regions, are found to be highly correlated, then the filter parameters need to be optimized only once for one of the regions and can then be re-used/refined ( 840 ) for the other region. The image regions may be spatial or temporal neighbors or, in the multi-view case, corresponding image regions from each view. For example, when considering two consecutive images of the video sequence, the mean absolute difference of pixel values between the two images can be used as a measure of the temporal correlation and, if the mean absolute difference is below a threshold, then the filters can be reused ( 840 ). 
     In another embodiment, the decision ( 830 ) of whether to reuse the same filter or not can be made based on the distortion computation, relative to the original video source, after reconstructing the decoded image. If the computed distortion is above a specified threshold or if the computed distortion increases significantly from that of the previous image/region, then the pre-processor optimization can be performed. 
     In a yet further embodiment, motion information that is either calculated at the image analysis stage or during video encoding, can be used to determine the motion of regions within the image. Then, the used filter parameters from the previous image can follow the motion of the corresponding region. 
     In another embodiment, the neighboring regions can be used to determine the filter set over which to perform the search for the optimal filter. For example, if the optimization over the neighboring regions shows that a set of M out of N total possible filters always outperforms the others, then only those M may be used in the optimization of the current image region. 
     Also, the filter used for the current region can take the form of 
       a*ƒ(L,T,D,P)+b
 
     where L is the filtered value using the filter optimized for the image region to the left of the current region, T uses the filter optimized for the image region to the top, D the image region to the top right, and P the co-located image region from the previous image. The function ƒ combines the filtered values from each filter using a mean, median, or other measure that also takes into account the similarity of the current region to each neighboring region. The variables a and b can be constant, or depend on spatial/temporal characteristics such as motion and texture. More generally, the filters considered could be those of neighboring regions that have already been selected. One embodiment for the raster scan could be the just mentioned L, T, D, P case. 
     In a still further embodiment, in addition to the rate-distortion performance of the filters, the “resource-distortion” performance of the filters may also be considered. In this case, the resources can include the available bits but may also include the available power in the encoding device, the computational complexity budget, and also delay constraints in the case of time-constrained applications. 
     In a still further embodiment, the distortion measurement may contain a combination of multiple distortion metrics, or be calculated taking into account additional factors such as transmission errors and error concealment as well as other post-processing methods used by display or playback devices. 
     In conclusion, the methods shown in the present disclosure can be used to adaptively pre-process regions of a video sequence. The methods are aimed at improving the rate-distortion performance of the output video while minimizing the computational complexity of the optimization. Although the methods are described as separate embodiments, they can also be used in combination within a low-complexity scalable video encoder. 
     While examples of the present disclosure have been provided with reference to scalable video delivery techniques, the teachings of the present disclosure also apply to non-scalable video delivery. For example, one application would be if the video is downsampled prior to encoding to reduce the bandwidth requirements and then interpolated after decoding to full resolution. If an adaptive interpolation technique is used, then the downsampling can be optimized to account for the adaptive interpolation. In case of such non-scalable applications, the output will be an adaptively upsampled output instead of being the output of the EL encoder. 
     Another application is interlaced video coding, where the pre-processing filters can be optimized based on the de-interlacing scheme used at the decoder. Moreover, the teachings of the present disclosure can be applied to non-scalable 3D applications that are similar to interlaced video coding, where the left and right view images can be spatially or temporally downsampled and interleaved prior to encoding, and then adaptively interpolated at the decoder to obtain the full spatial or temporal resolution. In such scenario, both the right and left views can predict from one another. In a different scenario, one layer may contain a frame in a first type of color space representation, bit-depth, and/or scale (e.g. logarithmic or linear) and another layer may contain the same frame in a second type of color space representation, bit-depth, and/or scale. The teachings of this disclosure may be applied to optimize the prediction and compression of samples in one layer from samples in the other layer. 
     The methods and systems described in the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or combination thereof. Features described as blocks, modules or components may be implemented together (e.g., in a logic device such as an integrated logic device) or separately (e.g., as separate connected logic devices). The software portion of the methods of the present disclosure may comprise a computer-readable medium which comprises instructions that, when executed, perform, at least in part, the described methods. The computer-readable medium may comprise, for example, a random access memory (RAM) and/or a read-only memory (ROM). The instructions may be executed by a processor (e.g., a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable logic array (FPGA)). 
     An embodiment of the present invention may relate to one or more of the example embodiments, enumerated below. 
     1. A method for selecting a pre-processing filter for video delivery, comprising: 
     inputting one or more input images into a plurality of pre-processing filters; 
     processing the output of each pre-processing filter to form, for each pre-processing filter, an output image or data stream; 
     for each pre-processing filter, evaluating a metric of the output image or data stream; and 
     selecting a pre-processing filter among the plurality of pre-processing filters based on the evaluated metric for each pre-processing filter. 
     2. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein the method is for scalable video delivery, the scalable video delivery comprising encoding and reconstructing the input images through a base layer and one or more enhancement layers.
 
3. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 2, wherein the pre-processing filter is a base layer pre-processing filter and processing the output of each pre-processing filter comprises subsampling the output of each pre-processing filter to a resolution for the base layer.
 
4. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein processing the output of each pre-processing filter comprises 3D-interleaving the output of each pre-processing filter.
 
5. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein processing the output of each pre-processing filter comprises decimating the output of each pre-processing filter.
 
6. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein the metric of the output image or bitstream is evaluated with respect to the input image.
 
7. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein evaluating the metric of the output image or bitstream comprises evaluating said distortion differently for each pre-processing filter.
 
8. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein evaluating the metric of the output image or bitstream comprises evaluating the metric differently in accordance with a selected region of the input image.
 
9. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 8, wherein said evaluating the metric differently is based on region-based statistics generated when selecting the one or more regions.
 
10. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, wherein said method is performed prior to encoding the video image.
 
11. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, wherein processing the output of each pre-processing filter to form an output image or data stream comprises encoding the output of each pre-processing filter to form an output encoded data stream.
 
12. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 11, wherein the encoding comprises base layer encoding, adaptive interpolation for base layer to enhancement layer prediction, and enhancement layer encoding.
 
13. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 11 or 12, wherein selection of a pre-processing filter based on the evaluated metric for each filter allows selection of the output encoded data stream corresponding to the selected pre-processing filter.
 
14. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, further comprising performing a two-stage encoding, a first stage encoding occurring before selecting the pre-processing filter and a second stage encoding occurring after selecting the pre-processing filter.
 
15. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 14, wherein the first stage encoding occurs when processing the output of each pre-processing filter.
 
16. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 14 or 15, wherein the first stage encoding is a simplified encoding.
 
17. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 16, wherein the first stage encoding is limited to intra-encoding only.
 
18. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 16 or 17, wherein the first stage encoding does not use one or more of sub-pixel motion estimation, deblocking filter, and chroma encoding and/or uses one or more of a lower rate distortion optimization process and lower resolution encoding.
 
19. The method of any one of Enumerated Example Embodiments 14 to 18, wherein the first stage encoding is updated based on the second stage encoding.
 
20. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 19, wherein the first stage encoding is updated by updating reference picture buffers in the first stage encoding.
 
21. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, wherein the one or more input images are selected regions of an input image.
 
22. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, further comprising:
 
     analyzing the input images before inputting the input images to the plurality of pre-processing filters; and 
     reducing the number of pre-processing filters to which the input images will be input or the number of regions to be later selected based on said analyzing. 
     23. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, further comprising: 
     encoding and reconstructing the output image or data stream before evaluating the metric of the output image or data stream. 
     24. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 23, wherein 
     the method is for scalable video delivery, the scalable video delivery comprising encoding and reconstructing the input images through a base layer and one or more enhancement layers, and 
     the plurality of pre-processing filters comprise a plurality of base layer filters and a plurality of enhancement layer filters for each base layer filter. 
     25. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, further comprising: 
     encoding the output image or data stream, wherein the selecting the pre-processing filter is also based on feedback from the encoding. 
     26. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 25, wherein the method is for scalable video delivery, the encoding comprising a base layer encoding and an enhancement layer encoding, the feedback being from the enhancement layer encoding.
 
27. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 26, wherein the feedback includes information on adaptive upsampling filter parameters used to generate base layer to enhancement layer prediction.
 
28. The method of any one of Enumerated Example Embodiments 25 to 27, wherein the input images are different regions from a same image, and wherein a pre-processing filter or filters are separately selected for each region.
 
29. The method of any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, wherein the input images are different regions from a same image, and wherein a pre-processing filter or filters are separately selected for each region.
 
30. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 2, where in the method is for scalable delivery of video with different bit-depths, scales, and/or color space representations.
 
31. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein the method is for non-scalable video delivery.
 
32. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 31, wherein the non-scalable video delivery comprises subsampling prior to encoding and video interpolation after decoding.
 
33. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 32, wherein the video interpolation is adaptive video interpolation.
 
34. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 31, wherein the non-scalable video delivery is non-scalable 3D video delivery.
 
35. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 34, wherein the non-scalable 3D video delivery comprises subsampling and interleaving left and right images prior to encoding and adaptively interpolating the left and right images while decoding.
 
36. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 35, wherein the left images predict from right images and vice versa.
 
37. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein the video delivery comprises video encoding and video decoding, the video encoding including interlacing and the video decoding including de-interlacing, wherein the metric evaluation of the output image or data bitstream is based on the de-interlacing.
 
38. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 1, wherein the video delivery is multi-view video delivery.
 
39. The method according to any one of the previous Enumerated Example Embodiments, wherein the metric comprises one or more of: distortion, bit rate, power, cost, time and computational complexity.
 
40. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 39, wherein distortion includes a combination of multiple distortion metrics.
 
41. A method for selecting a pre-processing filter for video delivery, comprising:
 
     analyzing an input image; 
     selecting a region of the input image; 
     evaluating whether a new selection for a pre-processing filter for the selected region has to be made; 
     if a new selection has to be made, selecting a pre-processing filter; and 
     if no new selection has to be made, selecting a previously selected pre-processing filter. 
     42. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 41, further comprising: 
     encoding and reconstructing the region after pre-processing. 
     43. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 42, wherein the method is for scalable video delivery, the encoding comprising base layer encoding and enhancement layer encoding, the reconstructing comprising base layer reconstructing and enhancement layer reconstructing.
 
44. The method of Enumerated Example Embodiment 42 or 43, wherein the evaluating is also based on feedback from the reconstructed region.
 
45. The method of any one of Enumerated Example Embodiments 42 to 44, wherein the evaluating is based on neighbors of the selected region.
 
46. A pre-processing filter selector for video delivery, comprising:
 
     a plurality of pre-processing filters adapted to receive an input image; 
     processing modules to process the output of each pre-processing filter to form an output image or data stream; 
     metrics evaluation modules to evaluate, for each pre-processing filter, a metric of the output image or data stream; and 
     a pre-processing filter selector to select a pre-processing filter among the plurality of pre-processing filters based on the evaluated metric for each pre-processing filter by the distortion modules. 
     47. The pre-processing filter selector of Enumerated Example Embodiment 46, further comprising a region selector for selecting one or more regions of the input image, wherein the plurality of processing filters are connected with the region selector and are adapted to receive the selected one or more regions.
 
48. The pre-processing filter selector of Enumerated Example Embodiment 46 or 47, wherein the video delivery is a scalable video delivery, comprising base layer encoding and enhancement layer encoding.
 
49. The pre-processing filter selector of Enumerated Example Embodiment 46 or 47, wherein the video delivery is a non-scalable video delivery.
 
50. The pre-processing filter selector of any one of Enumerated Example Embodiments 43 to 46, wherein the metric comprises one or more of: distortion, bit rate and complexity.
 
51. An encoder for encoding a video signal according to the method recited in one or more of Enumerated Example Embodiments 1 or 41.
 
52. An apparatus for encoding a video signal according to the method recited in one or more of Enumerated Example Embodiments 1 or 41.
 
53. A system for encoding a video signal according to the method recited in one or more of Enumerated Example Embodiments 1 or 41.
 
54. A computer-readable medium containing a set of instructions that causes a computer to perform the method recited in one or more of Enumerated Example Embodiments 1 and 41.
 
55. Use of the method recited in one or more of Enumerated Example Embodiments 1 or 41 to encode a video signal.
 
     The examples set forth above are provided to give those of ordinary skill in the art a complete disclosure and description of how to make and use the embodiments of the filter selection for video pre-processing in video applications of the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of what the inventors regard as their disclosure. Modifications of the above-described modes for carrying out the disclosure may be used by persons of skill in the video art, and are intended to be within the scope of the following claims. All patents and publications mentioned in the specification may be indicative of the levels of skill of those skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains. All references cited in this disclosure are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference had been incorporated by reference in its entirety individually. 
     It is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems, which can, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The term “plurality” includes two or more referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains. 
     A number of embodiments of the disclosure have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.