Hierarchical Motion Compensated De-interlacing

This paper introduces a new method of converting interlaced video to a progressively scanned video. The missing pixel values of the interlaced sequence are interpolated from past fields according to motion vectors found between the present and past. Hierarchical block-matching motion estimation is used in finding these motion vectors. This approach gives improved results over conventional de-interlacing methods such as median filtering and linear spatial interpolation. 1. INTRODUCTION Interlaced video is widely used in transmitting a sequence of images. Most television systems incorporate interlace for its many advantages, including the reduction of bandwith. However, some image processing tasks require that interlaced video be converted to progressively scanned video. Conversion of frame rates between different interlaced television standards is a good example. For television systems implementing progressively scanned display, de-interlacing is certainly a necessity. Motion estimatio..