For some embodiments, 
At 1305, the process 1300 processes parameters in picture header or PPS of the particular video picture. In some embodiments, picture header includes flags for determining whether additional chroma QP offsets are allowed for the video picture. The picture header also includes parameters for identifying the layer of the video hierarchy in which the quantization groups for the additional chroma QP offsets will be defined.
Next, the process identifies (at 1310) higher level chroma QP offset values. In some embodiments, this higher level chroma QP offset values are picture level offsets encoded in the picture header (or as a part of the PPS). In some embodiments, this higher level chroma QP offset values are slice level offsets encoded in the slice header. Some embodiments identify multiple higher level chroma QP offset values, including both picture level and slice level.