Application of motion compensation to video processing in the TV studio

Recent advances in VLSI technology and algorithm development are enabling motion estimation and compensation techniques to be applied to many processes in the TV studio. The range of possible applications is very wide and each places particular demands on the motion estimator. The paper reviews some of the attributes of motion estimators and compares them with the requirements of various processes, drawing on experiences gained in recent work. Processes that are amenable to motion compensation that are considered include standards conversion, slow-motion and film motion improvement (each involving the interpolation of new images using motion compensation), film unsteadiness correction, noise reduction, film dirt concealment and bandwidth reduction for HDTV.