Frame rate upconversion using pyramid structure and dense motion vector fields

We propose a frame rate upconversion (FRUC) method using pyramid structures (PS) and dense motion vector fields (MVFs). In FRUC processes, performance is dominantly dependent on motion compensation, thus motion vectors (MVs) must be precisely estimated. Variable sizes of blocks and large search ranges are needed to estimate the MVs of large objects and large movements; however, we use PS and dense MVFs to estimate MVs for various conditions. In the PS, we first estimate MVs on level 0, which is the most reduced image in the PS (L-1 times downsampling), and MVs on the high levels are estimated except for pixels having large corresponding MVs on the lower levels. Integration of MVFs for all levels is followed by a vector median filter to remove noises. Finally, a motion compensated frame is interpolated by weight-overlapped block motion compensation.