Enhancing whole-frame error concealment with an intra motion vector estimator in H.264/AVC

The novel H.264/AVC video coding specification provides a significant improvement in terms of coding efficiency compared to previous standards. In certain streaming scenarios, the problem of whole-frame loss concealment can arise when using H.264/AVC. Two different algorithms have been proposed to conceal a lost image, based on the optical flow concept. In a real streaming scenario, an encoder usually introduces some kind of intra refresh policy that can insert trouble concealment algorithms leaving gaps in the motion vector field used for reference. We discuss the advantages of introducing a motion vector estimator for such intra coded regions.