We present and analyse schemes for the improvement of computational complexity in the current HEVC (High Efficiecy Video Coding) standard, by a subsampling of the block-matching distortion cost functions used in the encoding process. HEVC improves on prior standards considerably in coding (compression) efficiency, with a large set-back in time complexity for inter and intra prediction processes and mode decisions. We alleviate this by reducing the number of calculations per decision in all modes of prediction, through pixel decimation in the SAD and SSE distortion cost functions. Experimentation with different patterns shows significant encoding time reduction with these schemes, used in tandem with built-in Fast Encoding optimizations in the HEVC reference implementation.