Adaptive search range adjustment and multiframe selection algorithm for motion estimation in H.264/AVC

The H.264/AVC video standard adopts a fixed search range (SR) and fixed reference frame (RF) for motion estimation. These fixed settings result in a heavy computational load in the video encoder. We propose a dynamic SR and multiframe selection algorithm to improve the computational efficiency of motion estimation. By exploiting the relationship between the predicted motion vector and the SR size, we develop an adaptive SR adjustment algorithm. We also design a RF selection scheme based on the correlation between the different block sizes of the macroblock. Experimental results show that our algorithm can significantly reduce the computational complexity of motion estimation compared with the JM15.1 reference software, with a negligible decrease in peak signal-tonoise ratio and a slight increase in bit rate. Our algorithm also outperforms existing methods in terms of its low complexity and high coding quality.