Patent ID: 8837577

Claim:
A method for decoding video, said method comprising: (a) decoding a first block of video based upon a plurality of decoded second blocks of said video; (b) based upon the plurality of second blocks of said video comprising blocks of different respective sizes, decoding said plurality of second blocks using a second technique; (c) wherein said second technique comprises; (i) decoding a first group of said second blocks in a manner such that each of said first group of said second blocks is predicted independently of the other ones of said second blocks not included within said first group, and is predicted along a selected one of a first plurality of prediction directions, the number of selectable prediction directions in said first plurality of directions based upon the size of said first group of second blocks; (ii) decoding a second group of said second blocks in manner such that at least one block of said second group of said second blocks is predicted in a manner that is dependent on at least one block of said first group of said second blocks, and is predicted along a selected one of a second plurality of prediction directions, the number of selectable prediction directions in said second plurality of directions being different than the number of selectable prediction directions in said first plurality of directions, and being based upon the size of said second group of second blocks; (d) based upon the plurality of second blocks of said video comprising blocks of the same respective sizes, decoding said plurality of second blocks using a first technique.