Fast full-search block-matching algorithm for motion-compensated video compression

This paper proposes a fast block-matching algorithm that uses three fast matching error measures, besides the conventional mean-absolute error (MAE) or mean-square error (MSE). An incoming reference block in the current frame is compared to candidate blocks within the search window using multiple matching criteria. These three fast matching error measures are established on the integral projections, having the advantages of being good block features and having simple complexity in measuring matching errors. Most of the candidate blocks can be rejected only by calculating one or more of the three fast matching error measures. The time-consuming computations of MSE or MAE are performed on only a few candidate blocks that first pass all three fast matching criteria. Simulation results show that a reduction of over 86% in computations is achieved after integrating the three fast matching criteria into the full-search algorithm, while ensuring optimal accuracy.