Devices, systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with block type selection are described. In one embodiment, a method calculates for each block from a set of M×N blocks that form a macroblock of image data, a first set of data. Adjacent blocks of the set of M×N blocks are combined into composite blocks. Data of the first set of data is selectively forwarded to composite blocks. For each composited block, a second set of data is calculated based, at least in part, on the forwarded data. A participation block is selected from one of the set of M×N blocks and the set of composite blocks based, at least in part, on the first set of data and the second set of data. The macroblock is compressed based on the participation block.