A fast GPU-based motion estimation algorithm for H.264/AVC

Abstract

H.264/AVC is the most recent predictive video compression standard to outperform other existing video coding standards by means of higher computational complexity. In recent years, heterogeneous computing has emerged as a cost-efficient solution for high-performance computing. In the literature, several algorithms have been proposed to accelerate video compression, but so far there have not been many solutions that deal with video codecs using heterogeneous systems. This paper proposes an algorithm to perform H.264/AVC inter prediction. The proposed algorithm performs the motion estimation, both with full-pixel and sub-pixel accuracy, using CUDA to assist the CPU, obtaining remarkable time reductions while maintaining rate-distortion performance. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.