Abstract: An experimental design for motion estimation in video compression that reduces the number of search locations within a search window by selecting the search locations from a predefined orthogonal table. The search locations are then compared with a reference block to generate match-values that are used to generate level-values reflecting dispositional relationships of the search locations and the relative magnitudes of the match-values. A preliminary motion vector is generated according to the relative magnitudes of the level-values. Candidate results are also generated based on the match-values. A final motion vector is generated by applying predetermined formulas to the level-values and altering the preliminary motion vector according to the candidate results when indicated to do so by the results of the formulas.