Patent ID: 6473460
Filing Date: 2002-10-29
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A method for calculating motion vectors between a first image and a second image, each of the first and second images having successive lines of picture element (pixel) samples, comprising the steps of:selecting a first block of N by M pixels having a predetermined position in the first image, where N and M are both integers greater than two; identifying a first matching block of N by M pixels in the second image, the first matching block having a position that is displaced from the position of the first block in the first image within a predetermined range of displacements and that matches the first block according to a predetermined criterion; calculating a first motion vector as the displacement of the pixel position of the first matching block of pixels from the second image relative to the position of the first block in the first image; selecting a second block of N by M pixels from the first image, the second block overlapping the first block in at least O pixel positions, O being an integer less than N times M; identifying a second matching block of N by M pixels in the second image, the second matching block having a position that is displaced from the position of the second block in the first image within the predetermined range of displacements and that matches the second block according to the predetermined criterion; and calculating a second motion vector as the displacement of the pixel position of the second matching block of pixels in the second image relative to the position of the second block in the first image.