1. A motion compensation module for use in a video encoder for encoding a video input signal, the motion compensation module comprising: a motion search module, that generates a motion search motion vector for each macroblock of a plurality of macroblocks by contemporaneously evaluating a top frame macroblock and bottom frame macroblock from a frame of the video input signal and a top field macroblock and a bottom field macroblock from corresponding fields of the video input signal; and a motion refinement module, coupled to the motion search module, that when enabled, generates a refined motion vector for each macroblock of the plurality of macroblocks, based on the motion search motion vector.