REGULATION OF DECODE-SIDE PROCESSING BASED ON PERCEPTUAL MASKING

This invention is directed to a method for decoding coded video data in which decoder performance is regulated based on perceptual masking. The method includes, upon receipt of coded video data, applying the coded video data to a multi-stage decoding process; computing perceptual masking measures for the coded video data; and switching a stage of the decoding process to a lower performance level based on the computed perceptual masking measures. The method may be applied to non-reference frames and reference frames with low numbers of dependent frames. The method provides scalability among decoders to allow for various decoder and/or coded data complexity.