PURPOSE: To reduce the detection time of a motion vector for motion compensation inter-frame prediction coding.

CONSTITUTION: A control circuit 60 estimates a motion, vector of an object on an image pickup screen based on focal length information and object distance information from a TV camera 10 and moving information of a moving base 12. The estimated value is fed from the control circuit 60 to a motion compensation inter-frame prediction circuit 34. The circuit 34 detects a motion vector by using the estimate value from the control circuit 60 as an initial value and outputs a preceding frame through lateral movement so as to cancel the detected motion vector.