1. A method for motion estimation in video compression, the method comprising: selecting a plurality of search locations within a search window; generating a match-value for each search location indicating how closely each search location matches a reference block; generating a plurality of level-values based on first dispositional relationships of the search locations and the relative magnitudes of the match-values; generating a preliminary motion vector based on the level-values; generating a plurality of candidate results based on second dispositional relationships of the search locations and the relative magnitudes of the match-values; and generating a final motion vector by altering the preliminary motion vector according to the candidate results as indicated by a predetermined set of formulas.