A method for segmenting images for estimating motion includes scanning block rows of an image to determine whether image blocks that are adjacent within a row are similar, and grouping similar image blocks into a row segment. If a block in a row is not similar to a preceding adjacent block, the block is used to initialize a new row segment. The method further includes calculating data for each row segment in an image, and using this data to determine whether a motion vector field for a row segment is consistent, whether discontinuities exist in a row segment that can be corrected, or whether discontinuities exist in a row segment that cannot be corrected, and correcting those row segment discontinuities that can be fixed to remove artifacts from a set of motion vectors associated with said row segment.