Motion vector estimation based on statistical features of an image frame

摘要

A method for estimating motion vectors between a current frame and a reference frame of a video signal wherein the current frame is divided into a plurality of search blocks and the reference frame and is defined to include a plurality of search regions corresponding to the plurality of search blocks, each of the plural search regions having a plurality of candidate blocks. The method includes the steps of calculating horizontal and vertical features of a reference frame based on pixel data of the reference frame; storing the calculated horizontal and vertical features; computing horizontal and vertical features of a k^th search block of the plurality of search blocks; comparing the horizontal and vertical features of the k^th search block with those of each of the plurality of candidate blocks of the reference frame in a corresponding search region using a computationally-efficient error measure; selecting a candidate block which yields a minimal error measure; and computing a motion vector for the k^th search block based on the selected candidate block.