A new block motion vector estimation using adaptive pixel decimation

Block motion estimation is being widely used in video coding. A new adaptive technique based on pixel decimation for estimating motion vector is presented. In the traditional approach, a uniform pixel decimation is used. Since some pixels in each block do not enter into the matching criterion, this approach might limit the accuracy of the motion vector. We select the most representative pixels based on the image content in each block for the matching criterion. This is due to the fact that high activity in the luminance signal such as edges and texture contributes mainly to the matching criterion. Our approach can compensate the drawback in standard pixel decimation techniques. Computer simulations show that this technique is close to the performance of the exhaustive search method with a significant reduction in computational complexity