Novel fast block motion estimation using diamond‐arc‐hexagon search patterns
Jen‐Shiun Chiang, Han-ting Lin, Chih‐Hsien Hsia · Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers · 2008
This work presents a novel block motion estimation (ME) approach, diamond‐arc‐hexagon search (DAHS), which uses diamond, arc, and hexagon search patterns to accomplish the fast searching process. According to the characteristic of the center‐based motion vector distribution for the real‐world video sequence, DAHS employs a small diamond pattern extended hexagon search to refine the central area search. Furthermore for estimation in large motion situations, the strategy of the large diamond‐to‐arc search can preserve good performance. Experimental results indicate that DAHS is suitable for both (quasi‐) stationary and large motion searches. DAHS outperforms the efficient three‐step (E3SS) and hexagon‐based search (HEXBS) in prediction quality, and improves the searching speed about 9% compared to E3SS. The proposed algorithm was tested using several sequences and delivered excellent performance in search speed and prediction of video quality. The DAHS can be applied to real‐time video processes, such as H.264/MPEG‐4 advanced video coding (AVC) and scalable video coding (SVC).