Fast algorithm for multi-reference and variable block size motion estimation in H.264/AVC

Abstract

H.264 adopts Variable Block Size Motion Estimation and multiple reference frames to improve compression rate and video quality. However, these techniques increase the computation complexity and the encoding time enormously. In this paper, a fast scheme is proposed for H.264 inter prediction. The scheme includes two parts. One is the frame selection algorithm which enables the most likely reference frames and discards the rest. The other is the mode selection algorithm that selects modes with more possibility of being the best encoding mode. Results show that 52.91% of the encoding time and 68.37% of the ME-Time can be saved on average with negligible quality degradation.