Techniques and tools for signaling the number of reference fields for an interlaced forward-predicted field are described. For example, a video decoder processes a first signal indicating whether an interlaced forward-predicted field has one or two reference fields for motion compensation. If the first signal indicates the interlaced forward-predicted field has one reference field, the decoder processes a second signal identifying the one reference field from among the two reference fields. On t...

A motion vector detection method includes extracting a first block from the m-th picture, extracting second blocks having a large correlation with respect to the first block from a (m+n)-th picture ((m+n)>m-th), detecting first motion vectors between the first and second blocks, extracting a third block located in spatially the same position as that of the first block from a (m+i)-th picture ((m+n)>(m+i)>m-th), computing second motion vectors of (n-1)/n times the first motion vectors, e...

A method for determining a best match between a first pixel array in a picture currently being encoded and a plurality of second pixel arrays in a search region of a reference picture, wherein each of the first and second pixel arrays includes a plurality of rows and columns of individual pixel values. The method is designed to be performed in a motion estimation search engine of a digital video encoder, and includes the steps of producing a first orthogonal-sum signature of the first pixel arra...

An apparatus including a first circuit, a second circuit and a third circuit. The first circuit may be configured to generate a plurality of first motion vectors and first error scores in response to a search of a macroblock of an image. The search generally includes a range of motion vectors of the macroblock. The second circuit may be configured to generate a plurality of second motion vectors and second error scores for a plurality of sub-blocks of the macroblock in response to a set of discr...

Global-adaptive deinterlacing systems and methods for reducing scintillation and feathering artifacts. Motion adaptive deinterlacing (MADI) local motion quantization thresholds are adaptively adjusted according to the amount of global motion present in the video sequence, thereby minimizing scintillation and feathering artifacts when deinterlacing the fields. A set of global motion scenarios are defined for the purpose of classifying fields, and a number of global motion indicators are used to d...

During transform-based video compression processing, motion vectors, which are identified during motion estimation and then used during motion-compensated inter-frame differencing, are constrained to coincide with block boundaries in the reference data. Block-based motion vectors have components that correspond to integer multiples of block dimensions. For example, for (8.times.8) blocks, allowable motion vector components are ( . . . , -16, -8, 0, +8, +16, . . . ). Constraining motion vectors i...

A processor array includes element processors which are arranged in a matrix in correspondence to respective pixels of a template block, which is a current picture image pixel block. Each element processor stores pixel data of a search window block, which is a corresponding reference picture image pixel block, and obtains an evaluation function value component with respect to the template block pixel data. A summing part sorts the evaluation function components received from the respective eleme...

An encoding and decoding apparatus using a wavelet transformation and motion estimation is disclosed. The apparatus includes an input module for receiving an image data, a wavelet module for wavelet-transforming the image data received through the input module, an estimation/compensation module, a storage module for storing the image data being transmitted from the input module and transmitting the stored data in a request from the respective modules, an output module for outputting one bit stre...

In a method and device for determining the spacing between first and second sequences of signal values, first and second successive signal values of the first sequence have assigned thereto a third signal value of the second sequence, the third signal value being located temporally or spatially between the first and second signal values of the first sequence. A first spacing value is determined based on a mixing value from the first and second signal values, a second spacing value between the mi...

In image encoding methods or systems, first and second motion vectors are determined for the two fields comprising a frame based on a field search. The first and second motion vectors then may be used to determine whether a frame prediction search is necessary. If the difference between motion vectors for the two fields of the frame is less than a threshold, the frame search should be performed. A suitable threshold may be calculated or described in any number of ways, however, in one embodiment...