Improved Pel-Recursive Motion Compensation

Abstract

A pel-recursive motion estimation technique for television coding was introduced by Netravali and Robbins [1]. This method basically involves computing a motion displacement and then separating the pels into predictable and unpredictable segments. The addresses required to identify these segments and thus enable the motion estimation algorithm are transmitted along with pel error data. The original algorithms are slow to converge, i.e., many iterations are required to obtain an accurate displacement estimate. This research introduces extensions to the basic algorithm of [1] and offers two significant improvements. First, convergence speed is improved substantially, which means that the algorithms can better tolerate motion changes and diverse motion within the picture. Secondly, explicit address information is not required, as it is contained implicitly in the motion compensation algorithm. For the sequences examined, this method proved superior to that of explicitly transmitting the address data. This algorithm has much better convergence rates and has prediction rates better than the original.