Patent ID: 6236679
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: G06T,H04N

Abstract:
A method for estimation of the motion of a macroblock of pixels of a current image with respect to a reference window taken in a preceding image, comprising: determining the cumulated distortion of the pixels of the current macroblock for a null motion vector in the reference window;choosing, as the motion vector of the current macroblock, the null vector if the distortion is lower than or equal to a first threshold;comparing the distortion calculated for each motion vector with a minimum distortion previously calculated with respect to a macroblock of the reference window for a previously examined vector, the minimum distortion being initialized by the distortion calculated during the first step; andreplacing the minimum distortion with the current distortion if the latter is lower;wherein comparing comprises comparing, for each modification of the minimum distortion, the value of this minimum distortion with a second predetermined threshold value; andchoosing, as the motion vector of the current macroblock, the vector associated with this minimum distortion.