Patent ID: 7847861

Claim:
Method for encoding video pictures using an encoder, the method comprising the steps of generating from a video picture a first and a second picture, wherein the second picture has a higher resolution than the first picture and each macroblock in the first picture has a plurality of corresponding macroblocks in the second picture; intra-coding the first picture on macroblock level, wherein macroblocks are intra predicted and for a first intra predicted macroblock an intra prediction direction is determined; and intra-coding the second picture on macroblock level, wherein for macroblocks corresponding to said first macroblock, instead of determining the intra prediction direction, the intra prediction direction of the first macroblock of the first picture is reused, wherein no intra prediction direction search is performed for the macroblocks that correspond to said first macroblock, and wherein intra-coding of a picture on macroblock level comprises the steps of defining a plurality of subblocks of a macroblock; selecting a first subblock from the defined subblocks or from subblocks of a neighboring macroblock; defining a prediction direction within the macroblock; performing a prediction for a second subblock within the macroblock using the selected first subblock and the prediction direction; and generating residual information, the residual information being the difference between the predicted subblock and the actual second subblock.