1. A computer-implemented method of generating a covariance matrix associated with a media object, wherein the covariance matrix describes the covariance between data elements in sub-portions of the media object, the method executed by a computing system, the computing system including a memory, and comprising: automatically identifying a plurality of relative displacements within spatial/temporal data of the media object; automatically generating a plurality of covariance sums, each of the covariance sums corresponding to one of the plurality of relative displacements; storing the plurality of covariance sums in a lookup table in the memory, each of the covariance sums stored in the lookup table in association with the corresponding relative displacement; populating a covariance matrix associated with the media object with covariance sums from the lookup table, wherein covariance sums from the lookup table in the memory are used to populate a plurality of entries in the covariance matrix; and storing the covariance matrix in the memory of the computing system.