Semi-hierarchical motion estimation for the dirac video codec

In this paper, a semi-hierarchical way of motion estimation for the Dirac video encoder is proposed. The algorithm requires fewer numbers of SAD calculations per block while the compression efficiency and PSNR remain the same. There is huge saving in terms of SAD calculation per block especially in moderate level motion sequences. Moreover, the proposed algorithm has the ability to increase or decrease the search range depending upon the complexity of the motion in order to maintain the accuracy of the motion estimation to a certain level and can be use in any type of standard video encoders.