Motion estimation apparatus and method

A motion estimation method, comprising:

• calculating a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• deciding a motion estimation mode of the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• estimating a last motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference),
• wherein estimating a last motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode comprises:
• executing motion estimation in a half-pixel based mode;
• executing a three-stage search mode;
• executing a block split mode;
• and
• switching the results from the half-pixel based mode execution, the three-stage search mode execution, and the block split mode execution.

A motion estimation method, comprising:

• calculating a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• deciding a motion estimation mode of the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• estimating a last motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein the deciding of the motion estimation mode comprises employing a half-pixel based motion estimation mode if the candidate motion vector variance, the average compensation error, and the minimal SAD are all found to be less than threshold values.

A motion estimation method, comprising:

• calculating a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• deciding a motion estimation mode of the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• estimating a last motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein the deciding of the motion estimation mode comprises employing a block split mode if the candidate motion vector variance and the average compensation error are found to be less than threshold values, and the minimal SAD is found to be greater than a threshold value.

A motion estimation method, comprising:

• calculating a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• deciding a motion estimation mode of the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• estimating a last motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein the deciding of the motion estimation mode comprises employing a three-stage search mode if the candidate motion vector variance is found to be less than threshold values, and the average compensation error is found to be greater than a threshold value.

A motion estimation method, comprising:

• calculating a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• deciding a motion estimation mode of the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• estimating a last motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein the deciding of the motion estimation mode comprises employing a half-pixel based motion estimation mode if the average compensation error and the minimal SAD are found to be less than threshold values irrespective of the candidate motion vector variance.

A motion estimation apparatus, comprising:

• a block error calculator to calculate a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• a motion estimation mode decider to determine a motion estimation mode for the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• a motion vector estimator to estimate a final motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein
• the motion estimation mode decider employs a half-pixel based motion estimation mode if the candidate motion vector variance, the average compensation error, and the minimal SAD are all found to be less than threshold values.

A motion estimation apparatus, comprising:

• a block error calculator to calculate a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block;
• a motion estimation mode decider to determine a motion estimation mode for the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error;
• and
• a motion vector estimator to estimate a final motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein
• the motion estimation mode decider employs a block split mode if the candidate motion vector variance and the average compensation error are found to be less than threshold values, and the minimal SAD is found to be greater than a threshold value.

A motion estimation apparatus, comprising:

• a block error calculator to calculate a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block:
• a motion estimation mode decider to determine a motion estimation mode for the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error:
• and
• a motion vector estimator to estimate a final motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein
• the motion estimation mode decider employs a three-stage search mode if the candidate motion vector variance is found to be less than threshold values, and the average compensation error is found to be greater than a threshold value.

A motion estimation apparatus, comprising:

• a block error calculator to calculate a specified block error based on a candidate motion vector previously estimated and spatiotemporarily neighboring on a present block:
• a motion estimation mode decider to determine a motion estimation mode for the present block to be processed based on the calculated block error:
• and
• a motion vector estimator to estimate a final motion vector in the decided motion estimation mode, wherein
• the block error has a candidate motion vector variance, average compensation error, and minimal SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), wherein
• the motion estimation mode decider employs a half-pixel based motion estimation mode if the average compensation error and the minimal SAD are found to be less than threshold values irrespective of the candidate motion vector variance.