Video coding using a bilinear image warping motion model and wavelet-based residual coding

This paper describes a video coding algorithm that combines new ideas in motion estimation, wavelet filter design, and wavelet-based coding techniques. A motion compensation technique using image warping and overlapped block motion compensation (OBMC) is employed to reduce temporal redundancies in a given image sequence. This combined motion model has the advantage of representing more complex motion than simple block matching schemes. To further improve the quality of the temporal prediction, an adaptive high-quality texture interpolation is used. Spatial decorrelation of the motion compensated residual images is performed using an one-parametric family of biorthogonal IIR wavelet filters coupled with a highly efficient pre-coding scheme. Experimental results demonstrate substantial improvements in objective quality of 1.0-2.2 dB PSNR compared to the H.263+ standard. Especially at very low bit-rates where the reconstruction quality of block-based coders suffers from visually annoying blocking artifacts the proposed coding scheme produces a superior subjective quality.