Patent ID: 8081829

Claim:
A motion estimation apparatus that estimates a motion amount of a target pixel for motion-estimation located between two adjacent lines in a current field when generating a non-interlaced video signal from an interlaced video signal, the apparatus comprising: a determination unit that calculates a difference in values between values of two pixels located on the two lines sandwiching the target pixel for motion-estimation in the current field, and compares the calculated difference value with a predetermined threshold to determine whether or not a horizontal edge is present between the two pixels; a first calculation unit that calculates an average value of the values of the two pixels as a first temporary interpolated pixel value; a second calculation unit that compares difference values between a value of a pixel located in the same position as the target pixel for motion-estimation in a previous field and each of the values of the two pixels in the current field, and determines the pixel having a smaller difference from among the two pixels to be a second temporary interpolated pixel value; a selector that selects either of the first temporary interpolated pixel value and the second temporary interpolated pixel value as a temporary interpolated pixel value based on the result of the determination unit; and a motion amount calculation unit that calculates the motion amount of the target pixel for motion-estimation based on the temporary interpolated pixel value selected by the selector, the value of the pixel located in the same position as the target pixel for motion-estimation in the previous field, and the difference value of the two pixels.