Fast inter-prediction mode decision and motion search for H.264

A fast inter-prediction mode decision and motion search algorithm is proposed for the H.264 video coding standard. The multi-resolution motion estimation scheme and an adaptive rate-distortion model are employed with early termination rules to accelerate the search process. With the new algorithm, the amount of computation involved in the motion search can be substantially reduced. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve a speed-up factor ranging from 60 to 150 times as compared to the full-search algorithm with little quality degradation.