JP2008154072A - Dynamic image coding apparatus and dynamic image coding method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to be compatible in reduced power consumption and suitable motion vector search. <P>SOLUTION: In a case that the motion vector search of a motion compensation block completes as a result of a search completion discrimination means, the motion vector search is done using at least a prediction motion vector for the motion compensation block of a processing object as an element for determination of the motion vector. In a case that the motion vector search of the motion compensation block does not complete, the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is done using the prediction motion vector for a different motion compensation block from the motion compensation block of the processing object in the coding block including the motion compensation block of the processing object. By the method, when performing parallel processing of the motion vector search, inconvenience does not occur that the prediction vector can not be created since surrounding motion vectors are not created yet, which are necessary for creation of the prediction vector. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving picture coding apparatus and a moving picture coding method, and in particular, a technique suitable for performing motion vector search of a plurality of motion compensation blocks in parallel and performing moving picture coding in real time. About.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a digital video camera is well known as a camera-integrated moving image recording apparatus that captures a subject and compresses and records a moving image obtained thereby. In recent years, recording media have been changed from conventional magnetic tapes to disk media, semiconductor memories, and the like due to high convenience such as random accessibility. However, in general, a disk medium or the like has a small storage capacity and needs to be compressed and encoded with higher efficiency.

  Also, in recent years, digital video cameras that handle high-definition video with a large amount of information have been developed with the expectation of high image quality. Thus, more efficient compression coding is desired from another viewpoint as well. At present, MPEG is often used as a standard system.

  Further, in recent years, the need for encoding at a lower bit rate has been increasing for further improvement of the recordable time on the recording medium and for portable terminals, and higher efficiency encoding has been studied. One of them is H. It is H.264, and a large amount of calculation is required for encoding and decoding as compared with conventional encoding methods such as MPEG2 and MPEG4, but it is known that higher encoding efficiency is realized.

  H. In H.264, various devices have been devised in order to increase the coding efficiency. As an example, there is a macroblock partition. In this method, macroblocks, which are coding units, are further divided into blocks to form macroblock partitions (motion compensation blocks), and motion compensation is performed in units of motion compensation blocks, enabling more precise motion compensation. ing.

  In addition, for the motion vector encoding, a prediction vector calculated using the motion vectors of surrounding motion compensation blocks that have already been encoded is generated for the target motion compensation block. Then, the difference vector between the motion vector to be encoded and the prediction vector is encoded.

  Therefore, in order to perform encoding more efficiently, not only considering the code amount of the pixel difference value by motion compensation, but also considering the code amount of the vector, the motion with the highest overall encoding efficiency is considered. It is important to generate a vector. In addition, there is a prior application that performs motion detection by efficiently narrowing down the shape of a macroblock (see Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, the shape of a macroblock is determined using camera information.

JP 2006-254370 A

  As explained above, H.P. In H.264, it is necessary to calculate a prediction vector and search for a motion vector in consideration of the code amount of the motion vector. However, it is necessary to perform enormous operations by subdividing the motion compensation block.

  Therefore, although the camera information is used in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, problems still remain in the encoding apparatus that cannot use the camera information, and as a result of using the camera information, the calculation results for all the macroblock shapes are obtained. When that happens, the amount of computation still remains large.

  In addition, when the encoding process is particularly important in real time, a very high speed processor is required, which causes the disadvantage that the equipment becomes expensive and the power consumption increases.

  Therefore, in order to drastically speed up the encoding process, a technique of performing motion vector search of a plurality of motion compensation blocks by parallel processing is effective. However, when the motion vector search is performed in parallel processing, in some cases, surrounding motion vectors necessary for generating a prediction vector may not be generated yet.

  In that case, there is a problem that a prediction vector cannot be generated and a suitable motion vector cannot be searched. That is, it has been very difficult to realize a moving image encoding device that achieves both low power consumption and suitable motion vector search.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to achieve both low power consumption and suitable motion vector search.

  The moving picture coding apparatus according to the present invention divides a screen into coding blocks which are coding units, and divides the coding block into motion compensation blocks which are motion compensation units, and motion vector information of the motion compensation block Is encoded with difference information from a predicted motion vector generated using motion vector information of an encoded motion compensation block located in the vicinity of a motion compensation block to be processed, Motion vector search means for searching for a motion vector of a motion compensation block, and the vicinity of the motion compensation block to be processed necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed by the motion vector search means A search completion judgment that judges whether or not the motion vector search of the motion compensation block located at is completed And when the search of the motion compensation block has been completed as a result of the determination by the search completion determination means, at least a prediction motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed is used as an element for determining a motion vector. If the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed, the processing target in the coding block including the processing target motion compensation block is selected. Selecting means for performing a motion vector search of the motion compensation block using a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block different from the motion compensation block.

  The moving picture coding method of the present invention divides a screen into coding blocks which are coding units, and divides the coding block into motion compensation blocks which are motion compensation units, and motion vector information of the motion compensation block Is encoded with difference information from a predicted motion vector generated using motion vector information of an encoded motion compensation block located in the vicinity of a motion compensation block to be processed, the video encoding method comprising: A motion vector search step for searching for a motion vector of a motion compensation block, and a neighborhood of the motion compensation block to be processed necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed in the motion vector search step A search completion judgment for judging whether or not the motion vector search of the motion compensation block located at is completed. And when the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is completed as a result of the determination in the step and the search completion determination step, at least a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed as an element for determining a motion vector If the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed, the processing target in the coding block including the processing target motion compensation block is selected. And a selection step of selecting to perform a motion vector search of the motion compensation block using a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block different from the motion compensation block.

  The program of the present invention divides a screen into coding blocks that are coding units, divides the coding block into motion compensation blocks that are motion compensation units, and processes motion vector information of the motion compensation block as a processing target. A program for causing a computer to execute a process of encoding using difference information with a predicted motion vector generated using motion vector information of an encoded motion compensation block located near a motion compensation block of the motion compensation block, A motion vector search step for searching for a motion vector of a block, and a position in the vicinity of the motion compensation block to be processed necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed in the motion vector search step. Whether or not the motion vector search of the motion compensation block to be completed has been completed. And a search completion determination step that determines whether or not the motion vector search of the motion compensation block has been completed as a result of the determination in the search completion determination step. The coding block including the motion compensation block to be processed when the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed when the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed. And a selection step of selecting a motion vector search for the motion compensation block using a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block different from the motion compensation block to be processed. .

  According to the present invention, high-speed processing can be performed without significantly reducing the coding efficiency, and power saving can be achieved, and both low power consumption and suitable motion vector search can be achieved. Can do.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a moving image encoding apparatus according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the moving image encoding apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an imaging unit 101 including a camera unit such as a lens or a CCD.

  Also, the frame memory 102, motion vector search circuit 103, inter-frame motion compensation circuit 104, intra prediction circuit 105, switch 106, subtractor 107, integer conversion circuit 108, quantization circuit 109, inverse quantization circuit 110, inverse integer conversion A circuit 111 is provided. Furthermore, an adder 112, an in-loop filter 113, an entropy encoding circuit 115, a code amount control circuit 116, a recording unit 117, and a recording medium 118 are provided.

  The operation of each component including the code amount control circuit 116 is controlled by a system controller (not shown). That is, the system controller controls the operation of the entire apparatus, and controls the operation of the entire apparatus in accordance with an instruction from the user that is input as necessary from an operation unit (not shown). .

  Image signals obtained by imaging by the imaging unit 101 are sequentially stored in the frame memory 102 in the order of the first frame, the second frame, the third frame,. Image data is extracted from the frame memory 102 in the order of encoding, for example, the third frame, the first frame, the second frame,...

  As types of encoding, there are “intra encoding” in which only image data in a frame is encoded, and “inter encoding” in which encoding is performed including inter-frame prediction. In the inter coding, a P picture that predicts one reference frame for a unit block (MC block) for motion compensation, a B picture that predicts up to two reference frames for an MC block, There is. A picture to be subjected to intra coding is called an I picture. The reason why the order of frames to be encoded differs from the order of input frames is to enable temporal prediction (backward prediction) with future frames.

  When intra coding is performed, image data of a block serving as a coding unit is read from the frame memory 102 and input to the intra prediction circuit 105. The intra prediction circuit 105 performs block matching between the encoding target block and a plurality of predicted images generated from a reconstructed image located near the encoding target block in the same frame described later. Then, the intra predicted image having the highest correlation is selected and output to the switch 106.

  That is, when intra coding is performed, the switch 106 is switched to the intra prediction circuit 105 (intra prediction image) side, and the intra prediction image is input to the subtractor 107. The subtractor 107 outputs difference information of pixel values between the encoding target block input from the frame memory 102 and the intra prediction image input from the switch 106 to the integer conversion circuit 108. As described above, by selecting with the switch 106, it is possible to select to perform motion vector search of the motion compensation block using the motion vector of the motion compensation block at the same spatial position as the motion compensation block to be processed. Become.

  The difference information of the pixel values is subjected to integer conversion by the integer conversion circuit 108 and then quantized by the quantization circuit 109. The quantized transform coefficient that is an output of the quantization circuit 109 is entropy-encoded in the entropy encoding circuit 115. Thereafter, a recording signal to the recording medium is generated by the recording unit 117 and recorded on the recording medium 118.

  The quantization coefficient in the quantization circuit 109 is calculated by the code amount control circuit 116 from the feedback of the code amount generated by the entropy encoding circuit 115. The quantized transform coefficient that is the output of the quantization circuit 109 is inversely quantized by the inverse quantization circuit 110. Further, the inverse integer transform circuit 111 performs an inverse integer transform process to obtain a decoded reconstructed image, which is input to the above-described intra prediction circuit 105 and used to generate an intra predicted image.

  The reconstructed image is subjected to encoding distortion reduction processing by the in-loop filter 113 and then stored in the frame memory 102 as a reference image used in inter-encoding described later.

  On the other hand, when inter coding is performed, image data of a block serving as a coding unit is read from the frame memory 102 and input to the motion vector search circuit 103. At the same time, the motion vector search circuit 103 reads a reference image from the frame memory 102 and detects a motion vector from the encoded image and the reference image. The inter-frame motion compensation circuit 104 performs motion compensation according to the motion vector, and generates a predicted image.

  When inter coding is performed, the switch 106 is switched to the inter-frame motion compensation circuit 104 side (inter prediction image side), and the difference between the encoded image and the prediction image is calculated by the subtractor 107 to generate a difference image. Is done. The difference image is output to the integer conversion circuit 108. Other processing is the same as that in the case of the above-described intra coding.

Next, the operation of the motion vector search circuit 103 will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a motion vector search circuit included in the video encoding device according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the motion vector search circuit 103 includes an encoding target block buffer 201, a reference image buffer 202, a pixel difference cost calculation circuit 203, a prediction vector generation circuit 205, a vector code amount cost calculation circuit 204, and a cost determination circuit. 206.

  For example, an encoding target block having 16 horizontal pixels and 16 vertical pixels is read from the frame memory 102 and stored in the encoding target block buffer 201. On the other hand, assuming that the motion vector detection range is a reference image, reference image data of horizontal 24 pixels and vertical 24 pixels is read from the frame memory 102 and stored in the reference image buffer 202.

Incidentally, the encoding target block of 16 horizontal pixels and 16 vertical pixels can be further divided into MC blocks (compensation unit blocks) which are compensation units, as shown in FIG.
First, the operation when the motion vector search of the 16 × 16 block shown in FIG. The pixel difference cost calculation circuit 203 correlates the encoding target block stored in the encoding target block buffer 201 with the horizontal 16 pixel and vertical 16 pixel block of a certain coordinate stored in the reference image buffer 202. And the pixel difference cost is calculated. The coordinates correspond to motion vectors. As a method for calculating the pixel difference cost, for example, a value (MAE) obtained by integrating the difference absolute values for each pixel between the encoded image and the reference image can be used.

  On the other hand, the prediction vector generation circuit 205 generates a prediction vector for the MC block to be searched. The prediction vector generation method is determined by the encoding standard. For example, in the case of a 16 × 16 block, the motion vectors of the A, B, and C blocks near the encoding target block (processing target) X are calculated as shown in FIG. Use to generate. Therefore, the prediction vector generation circuit 205 needs to store the encoded motion vector information for at least one line of the screen in the encoded block.

  The vector code amount cost calculation circuit 204 calculates a difference vector between the generated prediction vector and the motion vector for which the pixel difference cost is calculated, and calculates a vector code amount cost.

  The motion vector search is performed by repeating the above-described operation while changing the coordinates of the horizontal 16-pixel and vertical 16-pixel blocks read from the reference image buffer 202, that is, changing the candidate motion vector.

  The cost for the motion vector is sequentially input to the cost determination circuit 206 to determine a suitable motion vector. The cost determination circuit 206 calculates the total cost by combining the pixel difference cost and the vector code amount cost calculated for a certain candidate motion vector, and the candidate motion vector when the total cost is always minimum, The corresponding total cost is memorized. Finally, the candidate motion vector stored at the time when the search range of ± 4 pixels in both horizontal and vertical is finished is output as a definite motion vector.

Next, an operation in the case where the search processing of four 8x8 blocks is executed in parallel (execution of parallel processing) in the motion vector search of 8x8 blocks shown in FIG.
The basic operation of calculating the total cost while changing the candidate motion vector and determining the motion vector that minimizes the total cost is the same as in the case of the 16 × 16 block described above. However, since the motion vectors of four 8 × 8 blocks are obtained in parallel operation, the minimum total cost and the corresponding motion vector storage circuit are required for four blocks.

Now, calculation of a prediction vector for X2 when the encoding target block X shown in FIG. 5 is divided into four 8 × 8 blocks X0, X1, X2, and X3 will be described.
The prediction vector for X2 is defined by the coding standard so as to be generated using the motion vectors of A3, X0, and X1 in FIG.

  Assuming that encoding processing is performed in units of encoding blocks of 16 horizontal pixels and 16 vertical pixels, the motion vector of A3 has already been determined, but the motion vectors for X0 and X1 are indeterminate and prediction The vector cannot be generated. Therefore, when the motion vector necessary for generating the prediction vector is uncertain, the prediction vector for the 16 × 16 block is used as the X2 prediction vector. The same applies to X1 and X3. Here, a prediction vector of 16 × 16 blocks is used as the prediction vector of X2, but a prediction vector for the 16 × 8 block of FIG. 3B may be used as long as the prediction vector can be determined with other block sizes. .

  In the above description, the case of 16 × 16 blocks and the case of 8 × 8 blocks have been described separately. However, it is possible to execute a motion vector search of 16 × 16 blocks and a motion vector search of 8 × 8 blocks in parallel by having a minimum total cost and a corresponding motion vector storage circuit for each block. is there. Accordingly, by having nine storage circuits for the minimum total cost and corresponding motion vectors, the motion vector searches shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D are all executed in parallel. It is possible.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a moving picture encoding apparatus according to the second embodiment.
In the moving picture coding apparatus according to the present embodiment, in addition to the moving picture coding apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1, a global motion vector of a sufficiently wide range or the entire frame is calculated as compared with the coding block. A global motion vector search circuit 601 is provided.

  The global motion vector search circuit 601 detects the motion of the entire screen such as pan shooting, and is used for determining the center coordinates of the search range when the motion vector search circuit 103 searches for a motion vector. It is effective for improving the accuracy of

Although the overall configuration and operation are the same as those in the first embodiment, since the operation of the prediction vector generation circuit 205 is different, only the operation of the prediction vector generation circuit 205 will be described in detail.
The prediction vector for X2 of the 8 × 8 block in FIG. 5 is generated from the motion vectors of A3, X0, and X1 in FIG. 5, but since the motion vector search of X0 and X1 is also executed in parallel, it cannot be determined. As described above. Therefore, the global motion vector output from the global motion vector search circuit 601 is used as the prediction vector of X2. The same applies to X1 and X3.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video encoding apparatus according to the third embodiment.
In addition to the configuration of the moving picture encoding apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the moving picture encoding apparatus of the present embodiment stores a motion vector generated by the motion vector search circuit 103 for at least one frame period. A circuit 701 is provided.

Although the overall configuration and operation are the same as those in the first embodiment, since the operation of the prediction vector generation circuit 205 is different, only the operation of the prediction vector generation circuit 205 will be described in detail.
The prediction vector for X2 of the 8 × 8 block in FIG. 5 is generated from the motion vectors of A3, X0, and X1 in FIG. 5, but since the motion vector search of X0 and X1 is also executed in parallel, it cannot be determined. As described above.

  Therefore, in the moving picture encoding apparatus of the present embodiment, the motion vector at the same spatial position of the already encoded frame stored in the motion vector storage circuit 701 is used as the X2 prediction vector. I have to. The same applies to X1 and X3.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a video encoding device according to the fourth embodiment will be described.
Although the overall configuration and operation are the same as those in the first embodiment, since the operation of the prediction vector generation circuit 205 is different, only the operation of the prediction vector generation circuit 205 will be described in detail.

  The prediction vector for X2 of the 8 × 8 block in FIG. 5 is generated from the motion vectors of A3, X0, and X1 in FIG. 5, but since the motion vector search of X0 and X1 is also executed in parallel, it cannot be determined. As described above.

  In view of this, the moving picture encoding apparatus of the present embodiment generates an X2 prediction vector by using a candidate vector in the middle of a search as a fixed vector (provisional motion vector) for the X0 and X1 motion vectors. The values of the candidate vectors X0 and X1 change as the motion vector search process proceeds. Therefore, the prediction vector for X2 is also generated every time the candidate vectors for X0 and X1 are updated, and the prediction vector for X2 is also updated. Note that the initial value of the provisional motion vector may be a zero vector.

  However, since the candidate vectors for X0 and X1 are undecided or the reliability evaluation value is very low at the start of motion vector search, prediction of, for example, 16 × 16 blocks is performed as the initial value of the candidate vectors for X0 and X1. A vector is used. Then, the motion vector search process proceeds, and the candidate vectors are sequentially updated. Then, when the total cost for the candidate vector becomes smaller than a preset value (predetermined threshold) (exceeds the threshold), the candidate vectors X0 and X1 are used to generate a prediction vector for X2. I am doing so.

  Here, when the reliability of the candidate vectors X0 and X1 is very low, a prediction vector of 16 × 16 blocks is used. However, other determinable prediction vectors, a certain fixed value, a global motion vector, or a motion vector at the same spatial position in an already encoded frame may be used.

(Other embodiments according to the present invention)
Each step of motion vector search means, search completion determination means, selection means, global motion vector search means and predicted motion vector generation means, and video encoding method constituting the moving picture encoding apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention described above Can be realized by operating a program stored in a RAM or ROM of a computer. This program and a computer-readable storage medium storing the program are included in the present invention.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  Note that the present invention supplies a software program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments directly or remotely to a system or apparatus. In addition, this includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, and the like.

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. In addition, there are magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), and the like.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. It can also be supplied by downloading the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function from a homepage to a storage medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the downloaded key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the moving image encoder which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the motion vector search circuit with which the moving image encoder which concerns on 1st Embodiment is provided. It is a figure for demonstrating MC block division. It is a figure for demonstrating the prediction vector production | generation of a 16x16 block. It is a figure for demonstrating the prediction vector production | generation of 8x8 block. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the moving image encoder which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the moving image encoder which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image pick-up part 102 Frame memory 103 Motion vector search circuit 104 Inter frame motion compensation circuit 105 Intra prediction circuit 106 Switch 107 Subtractor 108 Integer conversion circuit 109 Quantization circuit 110 Inverse quantization circuit 111 Inverse integer conversion circuit 112 Adder 113 In loop Filter 115 Entropy encoding circuit 116 Code amount control circuit 117 Recording unit 118 Recording medium 201 Encoding target block buffer 202 Reference image buffer 203 Pixel difference cost calculation circuit 204 Vector code amount cost calculation circuit 205 Prediction vector generation circuit 206 Cost determination circuit 601 Global motion vector search circuit 701 Motion vector storage circuit

Claims (17)

The screen is divided into coding blocks that are coding units, the coding block is divided into motion compensation blocks that are motion compensation units, and motion vector information of the motion compensation block is stored in the vicinity of the motion compensation block to be processed. A video encoding device that performs encoding using difference information with a predicted motion vector generated using motion vector information of an encoded motion compensation block located in
Motion vector search means for searching for a motion vector of the motion compensation block;
Whether the motion vector search means has completed a motion vector search for a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block. Search completion determination means for determining whether or not,
As a result of the determination by the search completion determination means, when the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is completed, at least a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed is used as an element for determining a motion vector. If motion vector search is selected and motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed, the motion compensation of the processing target in the coding block including the motion compensation block of the processing target A moving picture coding apparatus comprising: selection means for performing a motion vector search of the motion compensation block using a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block different from the block.   As a result of the determination by the search completion determination unit, the selection unit is configured to detect a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block. When the motion vector search is not completed, the motion compensation block is selected to be searched using a preset fixed value as the predicted motion vector of the motion compensation block to be processed. The moving picture encoding apparatus according to claim 1.   The moving image encoding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fixed value is a zero vector. A global motion vector search means for searching for a motion vector of a block larger than the encoded block or the entire screen,
As a result of the determination by the search completion determination unit, the selection unit is configured to detect a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block. When the motion vector search is not completed, the global motion vector in the range including the processing target motion compensation block searched by the global motion vector search means as the predicted motion vector of the processing target motion compensation block The moving picture coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a motion vector search for the motion compensation block is selected by using the motion compensation block. Motion vector storage means capable of holding motion vector information searched by the motion vector search means for at least one frame period;
As a result of the determination by the search completion determination unit, the selection unit is configured to detect a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block. When the motion vector search is not completed, the motion compensation block to be processed in the already encoded frame stored in the motion vector storage means as the predicted motion vector of the motion compensation block to be processed 2. The moving picture coding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a motion vector search of the motion compensation block is selected using a motion vector of a motion compensation block at the same spatial position as in the above. The motion vector search means has a function of performing motion vector search of a plurality of motion compensation blocks included in the encoded block by parallel processing,
As a result of the determination by the search completion determination unit, the selection unit is configured to detect a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block. When the motion vector search is not completed, a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed is used as a motion vector of the motion compensation block for which the motion vector search is not completed using a provisional motion vector in the middle of the search. The motion picture encoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a motion vector search of the motion compensation block is performed.   An initial value of the provisional motion vector in the middle of the search is set, and until the reliability evaluation value of the provisional motion vector exceeds a predetermined threshold, a predicted motion for the motion compensation block to be processed is used using the initial value. Predictive motion vector generation means for generating a vector and generating a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed using the temporary motion vector when a reliability evaluation value of the temporary motion vector exceeds a predetermined threshold value The moving picture encoding apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:   The initial value of the provisional motion vector is a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block that includes the motion compensation block to be processed and is different from the motion compensation block to be processed in the encoding block. Item 8. The moving image encoding device according to Item 7.   8. The moving picture encoding apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the initial value of the provisional motion vector is a preset fixed value.   8. The moving picture encoding apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the initial value of the provisional motion vector is a zero vector.   8. The moving picture coding apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the initial value of the provisional motion vector is a global motion vector in a range including the motion compensation block to be processed.   8. The moving image according to claim 7, wherein the initial value of the provisional motion vector is a motion vector of a motion compensation block in the same spatial position as the motion compensation block to be processed in an already encoded frame. Encoding device. The screen is divided into coding blocks that are coding units, the coding block is divided into motion compensation blocks that are motion compensation units, and motion vector information of the motion compensation block is stored in the vicinity of the motion compensation block to be processed. A video encoding method for encoding using difference information with a predicted motion vector generated using motion vector information of an encoded motion compensation block located at
A motion vector search step of searching for a motion vector of the motion compensation block;
Whether the motion vector search of a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the motion compensation block to be processed, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed, has been completed in the motion vector search step A search completion determination step of determining whether or not,
When the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is completed as a result of the determination in the search completion determination step, at least a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed is used as an element for determining a motion vector. If motion vector search is selected and motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed, the motion compensation of the processing target in the coding block including the motion compensation block of the processing target And a selection step of selecting to perform a motion vector search of the motion compensation block using a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block different from the block. A global motion vector search step for searching for a motion vector of a block larger than the encoded block or the entire screen,
In the selection step, as a result of the determination in the search completion determination step, a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block If the motion vector search of the target motion compensation block is not completed, the global motion in the range including the target motion compensation block searched in the global motion vector search step is used as the predicted motion vector of the target motion compensation block. 14. The moving picture encoding method according to claim 13, wherein a selection is made to perform a motion vector search of the motion compensation block using a vector. Motion vector storage means capable of holding the motion vector information searched in the motion vector search step for at least one frame period;
In the selection step, as a result of the determination in the search completion determination step, a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the processing target motion compensation block necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the processing target motion compensation block is selected. When the motion vector search is not completed, the motion compensation block to be processed in the already encoded frame stored in the motion vector storage means as the predicted motion vector of the motion compensation block to be processed 14. The moving picture coding method according to claim 13, wherein a motion vector search for the motion compensation block is selected using a motion vector of a motion compensation block at the same spatial position as the motion compensation block. The screen is divided into coding blocks that are coding units, the coding block is divided into motion compensation blocks that are motion compensation units, and motion vector information of the motion compensation block is stored in the motion compensation block to be processed. A program for causing a computer to execute a process of encoding using difference information with a predicted motion vector generated using motion vector information of an encoded motion compensation block located in the vicinity,
A motion vector search step of searching for a motion vector of the motion compensation block;
Whether the motion vector search of a motion compensation block located in the vicinity of the motion compensation block to be processed, which is necessary for generating a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed, has been completed in the motion vector search step A search completion determination step of determining whether or not,
When the motion vector search of the motion compensation block is completed as a result of the determination in the search completion determination step, at least a predicted motion vector for the motion compensation block to be processed is used as an element for determining a motion vector. If motion vector search is selected and motion vector search of the motion compensation block is not completed, the motion compensation of the processing target in the coding block including the motion compensation block of the processing target A program that causes a computer to execute a selection step of selecting a motion vector search for a motion compensation block using a predicted motion vector for a motion compensation block different from the block.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 16.

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