Patent ID: 8416855

Claim:
A coding mode selection method for selecting a coding mode for motion vector estimation, wherein the coding mode includes first and second coding modes, comprising: selecting the first coding mode, wherein M sub-blocks of a macroblock are calculated as a calculation unit in the first coding mode; separately calculating M motion vectors for the first coding mode, wherein each of the M motion vectors correspond to one of the M sub-blocks; and determining whether to select the second coding mode to perform a motion vector estimation by determining whether correlations for the M motion vectors of the first coding mode match to a predetermined condition; wherein when correlations for the M motion vectors of the first coding mode do not match to the predetermined condition, selecting the first coding mode and utilizing the M motion vectors to perform the motion vector estimation without further calculating N motion vectors corresponding to the second coding mode, and when correlations for the M motion vectors of the first coding mode match to the predetermined condition, selecting the second coding mode and utilizing the N motion vectors corresponding to the second coding mode to perform the motion vector estimation, wherein the N motion vectors are generated by using the M motion vectors and 1≦N<M and the determination of whether the correlations for the M motion vectors match to the predetermined condition is performed by determining whether the M motion vectors are similar or equal to each other and if so, the correlations for the M motion vectors are determined to be matched to the predetermined condition.