A parallel true motion estimation method based on binarized cross correlation

Block based recursive search for motion estimation is already suitable for real time applications thanks to its wide utilization, but the increase of resolution in modern displays and the need for real time software implementations demand for faster approaches. In this paper a new motion estimation procedure that has been developed for a parallel implementation is presented. The parallel implementation was achieved by avoiding the spatial recursion which is typical for the recursive search systems, while the convergence can still be obtained by means of the temporal recursion only. In particular the use of a binarized cross correlation as a matching cost criteria instead of the standard SAD permits an improved motion vector field and a faster convergence without increasing the computational cost. The experimental results show a similar vector field estimation in comparison to the standard SAD based recursive search method with the considerable advantage of a possible parallel implementation.