LOCAL HASH-BASED MOTION ESTIMATION FOR SCREEN REMOTING SCENARIOS

Innovations in motion estimation adapted for screen remoting scenarios are described. For example, a video encoder calculates a hash value for a current block in a current picture. The video encoder searches, subject to a spatial constraint, for a matching block in a reference picture (e.g., the previous picture in display order) based at least in part on the hash value for the current block. The spatial constraint defines a search area in the reference picture within which hash values for candidate blocks in the reference picture may be compared to the hash value for the current block. By using a spatial constraint to limit the range of the local hash-based motion estimation, the video encoder can speed up the motion estimation process while still considering the candidate blocks in the reference picture that are most likely to match the current block.