A prediction unit 120 and 125 may include an inter prediction unit 120 performing inter prediction and an intra prediction unit 125 performing intra prediction. Whether to perform inter prediction or intra prediction for a prediction unit may be determined and concrete information (e.g., an intra prediction mode, a motion vector, a reference picture, etc.) according to each prediction method may be determined. In this case, a processing unit that prediction is performed may be different from a processing unit that a prediction method and concrete contents are determined. For example, a prediction method, a prediction mode, etc. may be determined in a prediction unit and prediction may be performed in a transform unit. A residual value (a residual block) between a generated prediction block and an original block may be input into a transform unit 130. In addition, prediction mode information, motion vector information, etc. used for prediction may be encoded in an entropy encoding unit 165 together with a residual value and transmitted to a decoding device. When a specific encoding mode is used, it is possible to encode an original block as it is and transmit it to a decoding unit without generating a prediction block through a prediction unit 120 and 125.
An inter prediction unit 120 may predict a prediction unit based on information of at least one picture of a previous picture or a subsequent picture of a current picture or may predict a prediction unit based on information of some regions which have been encoded in a current picture in some cases. An inter prediction unit 120 may include a reference picture interpolation unit, a motion prediction unit and a motion compensation unit.