Nature inspired algorithm based fast intra mode decision in HEVC

To efficiently handle the complex region, the intra modes are increased from 9 to 35 in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). As a result, the encoding time is increased and makes HEVC unfit for real time applications. This article applies the firefly algorithm (FFA) in HEVC to perform fast intra mode selection. Firstly, the intra modes of HEVC are mapped to the fireflies in FFA. Secondly, a novel, fast, and efficient objective function is formulated to efficiently handle the current problem of HEVC. Results show that 32.48% of the encoding time of HEVC is reduced. Moreover, it saved 20% more time than the existing work that applied FFA for intra mode decision.