An efficient gray search algorithm for the estimation of motion vectors

Motion vector estimation plays an important role in motion-compensated video coding. An efficient and fast search algorithm is proposed for the estimation of motion vectors. With the help of gray prediction, the algorithm can determine the motion vectors of image blocks quickly and correctly. Since the proposed algorithm performs better than other search algorithms [e.g. the three-step search (TSS), cross-search (CS), new three-step search (NTSS), four-step search (FSS), block-based gradient descent search (BBGDS), simple-and-efficient search (SES), prediction search (PS) and gray prediction search (GPS)], it is very beneficial in applications where the video coding speed is important.