Variable size block motion estimation

The success of video compression standards H.261/H.263, MPEG-1/MPEG-2 is greatly due to fairly efficient motion detection, estimation and compensation stages. In this study, we attempt to improve the inherent search process of the motion estimation and the compensation stage in some application specific cases including highway traffic video sequences. The proposed variable block size motion estimation approach takes advantage of the highly correlated spatial motion in highway traffic sequences for fast yet efficient motion estimation. The methodology presented outperforms the modified logarithmic search (MLS) and the conjugate directions search (CDS) algorithm in reduced complexity and residual entropy.