A Novel Hexagonal Search Algorithm for Fast Block Matching Motion Estimation

Based on real-world image sequence characteristics of center-biased motion vector distribution, a Hexagonal (HS) algorithm with center-biased checking point pattern for fast block motion estimation is proposed. The HS is compared with full search (FS), four-step search (4SS), new three-step search (NTSS), and recently proposed diamond search (DS) methods. Experimental results show that the proposed technique provides competitive performance with reduced computational complexity.