A variable search count block-matching algorithm for video coding

In this paper, we propose a variable search count algorithm (VSCA) which is faster than other center-biased motion estimation algorithms, with comparable accuracy. This paper compares the accuracy and processing speed of VSCA to the full search algorithm and several other suboptimal search algorithms. VSCA has a best case scenario of only 9 searches, and a worst case scenario of 19 searches. For a fast moving sequence such as "Foreman/spl Gt/CLOSE/, VSCA has an average search-count per block of 12.11, and offers a speedup of 16.87, normalized to the full search algorithm.