This paper proposes a new intra coding scheme, known as short distance intra prediction (SDIP), for high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standardization work. The proposed method is based on the quadtree unit structure of HEVC. By splitting a coding unit into nonsquare units for coding and reconstruction, and therefore shortening the distances between the predicted and the reference samples, the accuracy of intra prediction can be improved when applying the directional prediction method. SDIP improves the intra prediction accuracy, especially for high-detailed regions. This approach is applied in both luma and chroma components. When integrated into the HEVC reference software, it shows up to a 12.8% bit rate reduction to sequences with rich textures.