Fast Block-Based Motion Estimation Techniques in Video Compression

The widespread use of block-based inter-frame motion estimation for video sequence compression in both MPEG-x and H.26x series of standards is due to its effectiveness and simplicity of implementation. Nevertheless, the high computational complexity of the full-search (FS) algorithm has motivated a host of faster search strategies. This paper not only analyzes the character of main fast search algorithms, but also compares main search methods in both the processing speed and the accuracy of motion compensation over two representative test video sequences.