Patent Document ID: 8325812
Application ID: 11641863
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A motion estimator for generating an interpolation frame based on a current frame and a previous frame, the motion estimator comprising: a processor configured to provide: a first candidate motion vector calculating unit which divides the current frame into a plurality of blocks and generates a plurality of first candidate motion vector groups, each of the first candidate motion vector groups comprising a first candidate motion vector for each of the plurality of the blocks calculated based on a previous motion vector previously estimated; a second candidate motion vector calculating unit which calculates a plurality of second candidate motion vectors for each of the plurality of the blocks, each of the plurality of the second candidate motion vectors being calculated based on a respective first candidate motion vector included in each of the first candidate motion vector groups; and a final motion vector deciding unit which selects a final motion vector for each of the plurality of the blocks from among the plurality of the second candidate motion vectors, wherein the interpolation frame is generated based on the final motion vector, and wherein the second candidate motion vector calculating unit divides the current frame into the plurality of blocks, sets each of the plurality of blocks as a reference block, compares the reference block with a search region set in the previous frame based on the respective first candidate motion vector included in each of the first candidate motion vector groups, and calculates each of the second candidate motion vectors based on a result of the comparison.