An advanced center biased three step search algorithm for motion estimation

Recent studies show that the motion vector distribution within the search window shows a center biased behavior. Based on this fact, an advanced center biased three step search algorithm for fast block motion estimation has been proposed in this paper. The algorithm drastically reduces the computational complexity by strict application of the unimodal error surface assumption. Improved error performance has been achieved by an efficient center biased search strategy that improves the chance of getting correct motion vector. The half stop technique has been adopted to speed up the block matching process. Experimental results show that proposed algorithm has improved performance as compared to the original three step search algorithm. A good predicted image quality is also achieved