Method for motion estimation

A method for motion estimation with respect to a sequence of images, comprising:

• generating respective updates based on predictor vectors;
• distributing the updates over a plurality of tables;
• and
• applying only a single table of updates to a given predictor vector to generate a limited set of candidate vectors only.

A method for motion estimation with respect to a sequence of images, comprising:

• (a) providing digital image data representing a sequence of images;
• (b) providing one or a plurality of predictor vectors;
• (c) generating updates for the predictor vectors;
• (d) generating for the updates a candidate vector, thereby providing a plurality of candidate vectors by applying selected updates to a given predictor vector;
• (e) selecting from the plurality of candidate vectors a distinct candidate vector that fulfils a given matching criterion as a motion vector candidate;
• (f) wherein the generating (c), generating (d), and generating (e) are performed recursively until a given termination criterion is fulfilled;
• (g) wherein, as a result of each recursion, the predictor vectors or a subset thereof are updated by providing respective updates;
• (h) wherein the updates are distributedly organized and stored within a plurality of update tables;
• (i) wherein as a consequence each update table contains less than a complete number of updates;
• and
• (j) wherein in the generating (d) generating said candidate vectors only the updates of a single update table are applied to a given predictor vector.