Block matching motion estimation using block integration based on reliability metric

This paper proposes a motion estimation technique to improve accuracy and coherence of motion vectors estimated by the standard block matching technique. The proposed technique is based on a matching block integration using a reliability metric of motion vectors. First, the reliability metric is computed for all the matching blocks in the target image and then, based on this value and its dependency on the direction, four neighboring matching blocks are checked whether they should be integrated or not. Finally, motion vectors are estimated for the integrated matching blocks by the block matching technique. Since the block integration is performed only for flat matching blocks or those with a simple edge, the coherence is improved while the performance of motion compensation is kept as far as possible. The examples given show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.