Adaptive motion vector control

An apparatus for processing a digitally encoded signal from a medium, comprising:

• a source of said digitally encoded signal representative of a plurality of groups of digitally encoded block processed pictures, a group of said plurality of groups including at least one intra coded picture and at least one forward predicted picture and motion compensation data;
• a decoder coupled to said source for decoding said one intra coded picture;
• and,
• processing means coupled to said decoder for processing each block of said intra coded picture to classify image content type represented by data occurring within said block from a plurality of image content types, and storing said classified image content type represented within said block for subsequent image processing.

A method for processing a digitally encoded signal having a plurality of groups of digitally encoded pictures, a group of said plurality of groups including at least one intra coded picture processed as a plurality of blocks, at least one forward predicted coded picture, comprising the following steps:

• a) decoding and storing said one intra coded picture;
• b) processing each block of said plurality of blocks to derive separate spatial frequency components therein;
• c) classifying amplitudes values of said components of said each block as a type of a plurality of types;
• d) storing in a memory said type for said each block,
• e) decoding said one predicted picture,
• f) reading from said memory a stored block type for a block corresponding to said block currently decoding in said one predicted picture;
• and
• g) modifying a motion vector for said block currently decoding to change prediction responsive to said stored block type read from said memory.

An apparatus for reproducing from a medium a digitally encoded signal representative of a plurality of groups of pictures, a group of said plurality of groups including an intra coded picture and a predictively coded picture, comprising:

• a decoder coupled to said medium for decoding said digitally encoded signal to form said intra coded picture and said predictively coded picture;
• a memory coupled to said decoder for storing only one of a first field and a second field of said intra coded picture;
• and,
• control means coupled to said decoder and said memory for controlling prediction of said predictively coded picture responsive to matching between a motion vector field selection corresponding to said predictively coded picture with said only one field, wherein responsive to a mis-match said control means controllably modifies prediction to occur from said only one field.