FIG. 18 illustrates a generic video encoder.

FIG. 19 illustrates a generic video decoder.

FIG. 20 conceptually illustrates an electronic system with which some embodiments of the invention are implemented.

In the following description, numerous details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the invention may be practiced without the use of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the description of the invention with unnecessary detail.

In order to provide a video coding system in which chroma quantization parameters (chroma QP) can be more flexibly specified, some embodiments of the invention provide a method of signaling additional chroma QP offset values that are specific to quantization groups. In some embodiments, each quantization group explicitly specifies its own set of chroma QP offset values. In some embodiments, a table of possible sets of chroma QP offset values is specified in the header area of the picture or the slice, and each quantization group uses an index to select an entry from the table for determining its own set of chroma QP offset values. The quantization group level chroma QP offset values are then used to determine the chroma QP values for blocks within the quantization group. In some embodiments, the quantization group chroma QP values are used in conjunction with the luma QP of the block and the chroma QP offset values already specified at higher levels of the video coding hierarchy.