Coarse to over-fine optical flow estimation

We present a readily applicable way to go beyond the accuracy limits of current optical flow estimators. Modern optical flow algorithms employ the coarse to fine approach. We suggest to upgrade this class of algorithms, by adding over-fine interpolated levels to the pyramid. Theoretical analysis of the coarse to over-fine approach explains its advantages in handling flow-field discontinuities and simulations show its benefit for sub-pixel motion. By applying the suggested technique to various multi-scale optical flow algorithms, we reduced the estimation error by 10-30% on the common test sequences. Using the coarse to over-fine technique, we obtain optical flow estimation results that are currently the best for benchmark sequences. (c) 2006 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.