In this paper we analyze current H.264 rate distortion algorithms (RD), specifically those developed in the x264 codec which is an open source and high performance H.264/AVC encoder, and evaluate their suitability for high definition video conferencing (HDVC). Moreover, we report the current shortcomings of these methods and highlight issues to be addressed for future research, as well as the requirements of an RD for HDVC. Each method is analyzed from aspects such as network bandwidth, frame size, PSNR and SSIM measurements. In addition to the objective tests, the results are evaluated by human observers in order to get the correct perceptive of the performance of each method.