Patent ID: 7577202

Claim:
A method of video motion estimation implemented in a motion estimator of a codec device, the method determining the dominant motion in a video image; the method comprising: selecting a plurality of blocks in a first frame, each two selected blocks in the first frame forming a pair of selected blocks, each selected block in the pair being a predetermined minimum distance from the other selected block in the pair, and matching said selected blocks with their respective block positions in a second frame, the dominant motion being defined by a parametric transform which maps the movement of an image block from the first frame of the video to the second frame, the parametric transform having a plurality of parameters; from measured movements of the blocks between the first and second frames, calculating a plurality of estimates for one or more parameters of the plurality of parameters of the transform, the calculating the plurality of estimates including calculating at least two estimates for each of at least one parameter of the plurality of parameters for each pair of selected blocks; sorting the parameter estimates for the one or more parameters respectively into one or more ordered lists; and determining a best global value for each of the one or more parameters by examining the one or more ordered lists.