Segmentation-based coding of motion difference and motion field images for low bit-rate video compression

A motion compensated video coding system that minimizes the overall system output bit rate by jointly compressing motion compensated difference (MCD) and motion displacement field (MDF) images is proposed. The MDF constructed from the set of motion vectors is treated as a vector-pixel image and coded to reduce the number of displacement vectors. The bit rates needed to adequately represent MCD and MDF images are interdependent. Thus, for optimal performance a motion compensated coding systems, both MCD and MDF images should be treated as a single unit. Based on the characteristics of these two types of images, a segmentation-based coder is developed. A split-and-merge segmentation algorithm is developed in a graph theoretic context to minimize a coding distortion function. Simulation results have demonstrated excellent performance from this coding system