Patent ID: 7792191

Claim:
In an apparatus for determining motion estimation between successive video frames, the apparatus including a data processing unit, a machine-implemented method of obtaining a motion vector having sub-integer pixel accuracy representing the displacement between a first macroblock contained in a first frame of video image data and a second macroblock contained in a second frame of video image data comprising: determining an integer pixel location having a lowest mean of absolute difference (“MAD”) value in said second frame relative to said first frame; determining a first offset, relative to said integer pixel location, in a first direction to a first minimum MAD location having a lowest first direction MAD value; determining a second offset, relative to said integer pixel location, in a second direction to a second minimum MAD location having a lowest second direction MAD value; and determining said motion vector using said integer pixel location and a sub-integer pixel location, wherein said sub-integer pixel location is obtained by combining said first and said second offsets and without using offsets other than said first and said second offsets, and without determining values for sub-integer pixel locations other than those associated with determining said first and said second offsets.