FIG. 10 depicts another example method 1000 performed by a region-based reference management system. At 1010a, the encoder 540 encodes a frame using a hint's suggested reference. At 1010b, the encoder 540 encodes the frame without using the hint's suggested reference. At 1010b, the encoder 540 can encode the frame, for example, using another reference that was derived independently of the hint or can encode the frame using the immediately prior reference frame. Steps 1010a and 1010b can be executed concurrently or can be executed in any order. At 1020, the region-based reference manager 520 tracks the cost of encoding the frame with and without using the hint's suggested reference. At 1030, the region-based reference manager 520 determines the usefulness of the hint based on an analysis of the tracked cost. For example, if use of the hint's reference results in a history of a frequently high bit cost for encoding frames, the region-based reference manager 520 can use this information to adjust reference frame decisions to avoid use of that hint for deciding reference frame information for future frames.