Adaptive Search Range Algorithm Research Articles

Macroblock-level adaptive search range algorithm for motion estimation in multiview video coding

Multiview video coding (MVC) is an ongoing standard. In the working draft, motion estimation and disparity estimation are both employed in the encoding procedure. It achieves the highest possible coding efficiency, but results in extremely large encoding time, which obstructs it from practical applications. We propose a macroblock (MB) level adaptive search range algorithm utilizing inter-view correlation for motion estimation in MVC to reduce the complexity of the coder. For multi-view sequences, the motion vectors of the corresponding MBs in previously coded view are first extracted to analyze motion homogeneity. On the basis of motion homogeneity, MBs are classified into three types (MB in the region with homogeneous motion, with medium homogeneous motion, or with complex motion), and search range is adaptively determined for each type MB. Experimental results show that our algorithm can save 75% average computational complexity of motion estimation, with negligible loss of coding efficiency.