An interframe prediction technique combining template matching prediction and block-motion compensation for high-efficiency video coding

This paper introduces an interframe prediction technique that combines two motion vectors (MVs) derived respectively from template and block matching for overlapped block motion compensation (OBMC). It has a salient feature of not having to signal the template MV, while achieving a prediction performance close to that of bi-prediction. We begin by studying template matching prediction (TMP) from a theoretical perspective. Based on two signal models, the template MV is shown to approximate the pixel true motion around the template centroid, through which we explain why TMP generally outperforms SKIP prediction but is inferior to block-based motion compensation in terms of prediction performance. We then approach the problem of finding another MV to best complement the template MV from both deterministic and statistical viewpoints, the latter leading to the search of its optimal sampling location in the motion field. The result is a search criterion with OBMC window functions forming a geometry-like motion partitioning when the template area is straddled on the top and to the left of a target block. Generalizations to adaptive template design, multihypothesis prediction and motion merging are made to explore the complexity and performance trade-offs. Extensive experiments based on the HM-6.0 software show that the best of them, in terms of compression performance, achieves 1.7-2.0% BD-rate reductions at a cost of 26% and 39% increases in encoding and decoding times, respectively.