Patent ID: 8731070

Claim:
A method comprising: determining a value of end-to-end distortion associated with at least a portion of a particular picture in a series of pictures, wherein the value is based on (1) distortion in the particular picture that is attributable to error in a previously coded picture in the series and (2) distortion in a subsequently coded picture in the series that is attributable to error in the particular picture, wherein the previously coded picture is coded before the particular picture and the subsequently coded picture is coded after the particular picture; determining a second value associated with at least the portion of the particular picture, wherein the value and the second value are based on different codes being applied to at least the portion of the particular picture; evaluating the different codes based on a comparison of the value and the second value; determining encoding decisions in response to the value of end-to-end distortion; and encoding the at least a portion of the particular picture in response to the encoding decisions.