1. A method of motion estimation of segments ( 102 - 114 ) of an image ( 100 ), comprising the steps of: generating a set ( 118 ) of candidate motion vectors of a particular segment ( 104 ); computing for each candidate motion vector a match penalty; and selecting a particular motion vector ( 116 ) from the set ( 118 ) of candidate motion vectors on the basis of match penalties, characterized in further comprising the steps of: generating a tree ( 120 ) of the segments ( 102 - 114 ) of the image ( 100 ) by performing a hierarchical segmentation; and analyzing the tree ( 120 ) of the segments ( 102 - 114 ) to control the generation of the set ( 118 ) of candidate motion vectors of the particular segment ( 104 ).