An apparatus comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to (i) receive an image data stream comprising a plurality of frames each having a plurality of regions, (ii) select a particular region to be marked as being homogeneous or not homogeneous, and (iii) determine whether a group of neighboring regions to the selected region are qualified or not qualified. The second circuit may be configured to mark the selected region as being homogeneous when one or more of the adjacent regions are (i) qualified and (ii) previously marked as being homogeneous.