Method to increase the accuracy of phase correlation motion estimation in low-bit-precision circumstances

A system for estimating motion in a video programmed in a device comprising:

• a. a memory for storing an application, the application comprising:
• i. a pre-processing module for performing contrast pre-processing on the video to generate pre-processed data;
• and
• ii. a phase correlation module for performing phase correlation on the video using the pre-processed data;
• and
• b. a processor for processing the application;
• wherein the pre-processing module further comprises:
• a. a minimum pixel value module for computing minimum pixel values in an N x N input window;
• b. a maximum pixel value module for computing maximum pixel values in the N×N input window;
• and
• c. a re-scaling module for re-scaling the pixels in the window to produce an N×N re-scaled output window;
• wherein the re-scaled output window has a first dynamic range of pixels equal to a second dynamic range of input to a Fast Fourier Transform component.

A device for estimating motion in a video comprising:

• a. a memory for storing an application, the application for:
• i. performing contrast pre-processing on the video to generate pre-processed data;
• and
• ii. performing phase correlation on the video using the pre-processed data;
• and
• b. a processing component coupled to the memory, the processing component configured for processing the application;
• wherein performing contrast pre-processing further comprises:
• a. computing minimum pixel values in an N×N input window;
• b. computing maximum pixel values in the N×N input window;
• and
• c. a re-scaling module for re-scaling the pixels in the window to produce an N×N re-scaled output window;
• wherein the re-scaled output window has a first dynamic range of pixels equal to a second dynamic range of input to a Fast Fourier Transform component.

A camera device comprising:

• a. a video acquisition component for acquiring a video;
• b. an encoder for encoding the image, including motion estimation, by:
• i. performing contrast pre-processing on the video to generate pre-processed data;
• and
• ii. performing phase correlation on the video using the pre-processed data;
• and
• c. a memory for storing the encoded video;
• wherein performing contrast pre-processing further comprises:
• a. computing minimum pixel values in an N×N input window;
• b. computing maximum pixel values in the N×N input window;
• and
• c. a re-scaling module for re-scaling the pixels in the window to produce an N×N re-scaled output window;
• wherein the re-scaled output window has a first dynamic range of pixels equal to a second dynamic range of input to a Fast Fourier Transform component.