Motion estimation based on search range

A video motion estimation apparatus, comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to:
• obtain an image frame set based on categorization of a plurality of image frames into one or more scenarios according to a scenario classification process, the image frame set including a subset of the plurality of image frames associated with a respective scenario of the one or more scenarios;
• extract a contour feature and a color feature of a foreground object of each image frame in the image frame set;
• determine a search range corresponding to the image frame set based on the contour feature and the color feature of the foreground object of each image frame in the image frame set;
• determine a starting search point in a predicted frame within the image frame set;
• and
• obtain a motion vector of the predicted frame based on a motion estimation process performed within a search region corresponding to the search range of the predicted frame and the starting search point of the predicted frame, the motion vector indicating a reference block in a reference frame within the image frame set.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

• obtaining an image frame set based on categorization of a plurality of image frames into one or more scenarios according to a scenario classification process, the image frame set including a subset of the plurality of image frames associated with a respective scenario of the one or more scenarios;
• extracting a contour feature and a color feature of a foreground object of each image frame in the image frame set;
• determining a search range corresponding to the image frame set based on the contour feature and the color feature of the foreground object of each image frame in the image frame set;
• determining a starting search point in a predicted frame within the image frame set;
• and
• obtaining a motion vector of the predicted frame based on a motion estimation process performed within a search region corresponding to the search range of the predicted frame and the starting search point of the predicted frame, the motion vector indicating a reference block in a reference frame within the image frame set.