Patent ID: 8031768

Claim:
A method of quantizing a plurality of transform coefficients for an encoding process, comprising: (A) receiving the plurality of transform coefficients corresponding to a high-resolution macroblock; (B) generating a plurality of first quantized coefficients in a circuit by quantizing said plurality of transform coefficients corresponding to said high-resolution macroblock using at least one first quantization step size; (C) defining a zero threshold for the plurality of first quantized coefficients, wherein a first subset of the plurality of first quantized coefficients are above the zero threshold, and a second subset of the plurality of first quantized coefficients are below the zero threshold; and generating a plurality of second quantized coefficients corresponding to said high-resolution macroblock by (a) establishing a plurality of reconstructed transform coefficients using a second quantization step size to approximately match a subset of the plurality of transform coefficients that correspond to the first subset of the plurality of first quantized coefficients, (b) resealing the first subset of said plurality of first quantized coefficients to the first subset of the plurality of second quantized coefficients based on the plurality of reconstructed transform coefficients and the second quantization step size, and (c) setting to zero a second subset of said plurality of second quantized coefficients that correspond to the second subset of said plurality of first quantized coefficients, wherein (i) each of the plurality of alternative reconstructed transform coefficients is equal to the product of the second quantization step size and one of the first subset of said plurality of second quantized coefficients and (ii) said first quantization step size is different than said second quantization step size for said encoding process.