Stackelberg Game Based Rate Allocation for HEVC Region of Interest Coding

Region of Interests (ROI) coding has shown advantages in subjectively optimized video coding. In this paper, we propose a new CTU-Ievel rate allocation scheme based on the Stackelberg Game model to enhance the visual quality of ROI which formulates the rate allocation process as a noncooperative Stackelberg Game between the ROI and the non-ROI. In this game, ROI is the leader who takes the priority. Based on the formulated game, the rate allocation problem can be expressed as a utility optimization problem. By solving the corresponding utility optimization problem, a novel CTU-level rate allocation strategy is established, in which a trade-off between the ROI's quality and the overall quality can be achieved. The experimental results show that our proposed scheme can improve the quality of ROI significantly with a negligible overall quality degradation.