Minimizing drift in motion-compensation fine granular scalable structures

1. A method for minimizing prediction drift in a fine granular scalable video coding scheme that utilizes motion compensation in an enhancement layer, the method comprising:

measuring motion activity within at least a portion of a video;

determining whether the measured motion activity is below a predetermined threshold value;

coding the portion of the video with the fine granular scalable video coding scheme that utilizes motion compensation in the enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is below the predetermined threshold value; and

coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding that does not utilize motion compensation in the enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is above the predetermined threshold value.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the measuring step is performed using motion data computed during base layer encoding.

3. An apparatus for coding video, the apparatus comprising:

means for measuring motion activity within at least a portion of a video;

means for determining whether the measured motion activity is below a predetermined threshold value;

means for coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding scheme that utilizes motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is below the predetermined threshold value; and

means for coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding that does not utilize motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is above the predetermined threshold value.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the measuring means uses motion data computed during base layer encoding.

5. A method for coding video, the method comprising:

measuring motion activity within at least a portion of a video;

determining whether the measured motion activity is below a predetermined threshold value;

coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding scheme that utilizes motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is below the predetermined threshold value; and

coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding that does not utilize motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is above the predetermined threshold value.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the measuring step is performed using motion data computed during base layer encoding.

7. A memory medium for encoding video, the memory medium comprising:

code for measuring motion activity within at least a portion of a video;

code for determining whether the measured motion activity is below a predetermined threshold value;

code for coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding scheme that utilizes motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is below the predetermined threshold value; and

code for coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding that does not utilize motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is above the predetermined threshold value.

8. The memory medium according to claim 7 , wherein the code for measuring motion activity use motion data computed during base layer encoding.

9. A coded data signal produced by the steps comprising:

measuring motion activity within at least a portion of a video;

determining whether the measured motion activity is below a predetermined threshold value;

coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding scheme that utilizes motion compensation in an enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is below the predetermined threshold value; and

coding the portion of the video with a fine granular scalable video coding that does not utilize motion compensation in the enhancement layer if the measured motion activity is above the predetermined threshold value.

10. The coded data signal according to claim 9 , wherein the measuring step is performed using motion data computed during base layer encoding.