A Fast Half-Pixel Motion Vector Search Algorithm
基于最小匹配误差方向预测的快速半像素运动估计

A minimal matching error direction prediction-based fast half-pixel motion vector search algorithm is proposed in this paper in order to reduce computation load of half-pixel search. Based on the single peak characteristic of half-pixel error matching function inside search grid, the algorithm predicts minimal matching error direction with the help of SAD values comparison results of four integer-pixel points around integer-pixel motion vector, so that a great number of unnecessary computations for matching search can be avoided. The experimental results reveal that, to all kinds of video sequences, the proposed algorithm can obtain almost the same video quality as that of the half-pixel full search algorithm with reduced average 73% computation cost, which is very useful for real-time applications.