Optimizing stereo‐to‐multiview conversion for autostereoscopic displays

We present a novel stereo‐to‐multiview video conversion method for glasses‐free multiview displays. Different from previous stereo‐to‐multiview approaches, our mapping algorithm utilizes the limited depth range of autostereoscopic displays optimally and strives to preserve the scene's artistic composition and perceived depth even under strong depth compression. We first present an investigation of how perceived image quality relates to spatial frequency and disparity. The outcome of this study is utilized in a two‐step mapping algorithm, where we (i) compress the scene depth using a non‐linear global function to the depth range of an autostereoscopic display and (ii) enhance the depth gradients of salient objects to restore the perceived depth and salient scene structure. Finally, an adapted image domain warping algorithm is proposed to generate the multiview output, which enables overall disparity range extension.     

多尺度显著区域检测图像压缩

目的 为了解决利用显著区域进行图像压缩已有方法中存在的对多目标的图像内容不能有效感知,从而影响重建图像的质量问题,提出一种基于多尺度深度特征显著区域检测图像压缩方法。方法 利用改进的卷积神经网络（CNNs）,进行多尺度图像深度特征检测,得到不同尺度显著区域;然后根据输入图像尺寸自适应调整显著区域图的尺寸,同时引入高斯函数,对显著区域进行滤波,得到多尺度融合显著区域;最后结合编码压缩技术,对显著区域实行近无损压缩,非显著区域利用有损编码技术进行有损压缩,完成图像的压缩和重建工作。结果 提出的图像压缩方法较JPEG压缩方法,编码码率为0.39 bit/像素左右时,在数据集Kodak PhotoCD上,峰值信噪比（PSNR）提高了2.23 dB,结构相似性（SSIM）提高了0.024;在数据集Pascal Voc上,PSNR和SSIM两个指标分别提高了1.63 dB和0.039。同时,将提出的多尺度特征显著区域方法结合多级树集合分裂（SPIHT）和游程编码（RLE）压缩技术,在Kodak数据集上,PSNR分别提高了1.85 dB、1.98 dB,SSIM分别提高了0.006、0.023。结论 提出的利用多尺度深度特征进行图像压缩方法得到了较传统编码技术更好的结果,该方法通过有效地进行图像内容的感知,使得在图像压缩过程中,减少了图像内容损失,从而提高了压缩后重建图像的质量。     

基于ROI的分形图像压缩编码

分形图像压缩由于具有非常高的压缩比越来越受人们的关注,但是高压缩比的图像方块效应非常明显,这在很大程度上影响了解码图像的质量。为了解决这个问题,借鉴JPEG2000中提出的ROI概念,提出了将感兴趣区域（ROI）图像编码与分形图像压缩编码相结合的图像编码方法,使得重构的图像中感兴趣区域的保真度高于背景区。该方法很好地解决了图像的压缩比和重构图像质量之间的矛盾。实验结果证明：此方法在获得较高压缩比的同时,压缩编码时间大为降低,解码图像质量也有较大的改善,且总体编码性能优于JPEG编码。     

The transform image codec based on fuzzy control and human visualsystem

A novel processing scheme for gray level image compression based on the human visual system (HVS) and fuzzy control is proposed. The spatial model of the threshold vision that incorporates the masking processes takes account of two major sensitivities of the human visual system, namely background illumination levels and spatial frequency sensitivities. The distortion measures use common sense fuzzy rules for image quality prediction. The human visual models have been successfully applied in image compression. By the addition of the visual model, performance of these systems has a visible improvement of subject quality depending on visual perception. The processed image performs both improved compression ratio as well as improved SNR (signal to noise ratio) in compression to the standardized still image compression technique, i.e., the JPEG     

Context based medical image compression for ultrasound images with contextual set partitioning in hierarchical trees algorithm

The basic goal of medical image compression is to reduce the bit rate and enhance the compression efficiency for the transmission and storage of the medical imagery while maintaining an acceptable diagnostic image quality. Because of the storage, transmission bandwidth, picture archiving and communication constraints and the limitations of the conventional compression methods, the medical imagery need to be compressed selectively to reduce the transmission time and storage cost along with the preservance of the high diagnostic quality. The other important reason of context based medical image compression is the high spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity requirements. In medical images, contextual region is an area which contains the most useful and important information and must be coded carefully without appreciable distortion. A novel scheme for context based coding is proposed here and yields significantly better compression rates than the general methods of JPEG and JPEG2K. In this proposed method the contextual part of the image is encoded selectively on the high priority basis with a very low compression rate (high bpp) and the background of the image is separately encoded with a low priority and a high compression rate (low bpp) and they are re-combined for the reconstruction of the image. As a result, high over all compression rates, better diagnostic image quality and improved performance parameters (CR, MSE, PSNR and CoC) are obtained. The experimental results have been compared to the scaling, Maxshift, implicit and EBCOT methods on ultrasound medical images and it is found that the proposed algorithm gives better and improved results.     

A HDWT-based reversible data hiding method

This paper presents a reversible data hiding method which provides a high payload and a high stego-image quality. The proposed method transforms a spatial domain cover image into a frequency domain image using the Haar digital wavelet transform (HDWT) method, compresses the coefficients of the high frequency band by the Huffman (or arithmetic) coding method, and then embeds the compression data and the secret data in the high frequency band. Since the high frequency band incorporates less energy than other bands of an image, it can be exploited to carry secret data. Furthermore, the proposed method utilizes the Huffman (or arithmetic) coding method to recover the cover image without any distortion. The proposed method is simple and the experimental results show that the designed method can give a high hiding capacity with a high quality of stego-image.     

Hiding depth information in compressed 2D image/video using reversible watermarking

In this paper, a novel joint coding scheme is proposed for 3D media content including stereo images and multiview-plus-depth (MVD) video for the purpose of depth information hiding. The depth information is an image or image channel which reveals the distance of scene objects’ surfaces from a viewpoint. With the concern of copyright protection, access control and coding efficiency for 3D content, we propose to hide the depth information into the texture image/video by a reversible watermarking algorithm called Quantized DCT Expansion (QDCTE). Considering the crucial importance of depth information for depth-image-based rendering (DIBR), full resolution depth image/video is compressed and embedded into the texture image/video, and it can be extracted without extra quality degradation other than compression itself. The reversibility of the proposed algorithm guarantees that texture image/video quality will not suffer from the watermarking process even if high payload (i.e. depth information) is embedded into the cover image/video. In order to control the size increase of watermarked image/video, the embedding function is carefully selected and the entropy coding process is also customized according to watermarking strength. Huffman and content-adaptive variable-length coding (CAVLC), which are respectively used for JPEG image and H.264 video entropy encoding, are analyzed and customized. After depth information embedding, we propose a new method to update the entropy codeword table with high efficiency and low computational complexity according to watermark embedding strength. By using our proposed coding scheme, the depth information can be hidden into the compressed texture image/video with little bitstream size overhead while the quality degradation of original cover image/video from watermarking can be completely removed at the receiver side.     

用光学方法实现图像数据压缩时对滤波器的精度要求

为了使光学滤波器在空间频域进行小波变换时,能满足图像压缩的精度要求,通过利用光学滤波器在空间频域进行小波变换(或其他变换)来实现图像数据压缩时对滤波器的特殊要求的研究,结合人眼视觉特性(HVS)及视觉感知图像质量评价方法,推导并得出了用光学滤波器来实现图像数据压缩时的精度误差上限的估计值,从而为设计用于高质量图像数据压缩的此类光学滤波器提供了依据,仿真实验证实,光学滤波器能满足图像数据压缩的精度要求。     

基于D^2PCM的数字减影图象序列无损压缩算法

充分利用数字减影（ＤＳＡ）图象序列在时间域上的减影图象之间仍然存在一定的相似性,提出了一种基于二阶差分ＰＣＭ（Ｄ＾２ＰＣＭ）的编码方式。方法在空间坐标与时间坐标上构成了一个二阶差分,能够有效地减少图象在空间以及时间域上的冗余度,从而实现对ＤＳＡ序列的无损压缩,减少了存储空间与传输时间。实际应用证明该处法是稳定和实用的。     

彩色图象三维DCT变换压缩编码

由于彩色图象是以三分量形式表示的，因此在对其进行压缩编码时不仅要考虑它在空间，结构等方面上的冗余信息，还应充分利用各分量间的相关性。此文提出了一种彩色图象三维矩阵表示模型的三维ＤＣＴ变换压缩编码方法。     

Transform Based Lossy Compression of Multispectral Images

We have composed compression methods, which are based on the one-, two- and three-dimensional wavelet transforms. In addition, clustering the spectra of the image is considered. These compression methods, combining compression in the spectral and spatial domains, are compared by using a dataset of 65 multispectral images. The experimental results show that, at low compression ratios, the best method is based on the three-dimensional wavelet transform, where the spatial and spectral dimensions are transformed simultaneously. At higher compression ratios, a high quality wavelet-based compression method in the spatial dimensions combined with the principal component analysis in the spectral dimension gives the best results. This means that components of compressed images can be used as features in pattern analysis applications. The selection of the compression parameters is image-dependent. The results also show that, for multispectral images, both spectral and spatial compression could be used, and for best results, optimal bit allocation in encoding should be found. The results from the methods suggested are compared to the results found in the literature.     

基于CNN特征提取和加权深度迁移的单目图像深度估计

单目图像的深度估计可以从相似图像及其对应的深度信息中获得。然而,图像匹 配歧义和估计深度的不均匀性问题制约了这类算法的性能。为此,提出了一种基于卷积神经网 络(CNN)特征提取和加权深度迁移的单目图像深度估计算法。首先提取 CNN 特征计算输入图像 在数据集中的近邻图像;然后获得各候选近邻图像和输入图像间的像素级稠密空间形变函数; 再将形变函数迁移至候选深度图像集,同时引入基于 SIFT 的迁移权重 SSW,并通过对加权迁 移后的候选深度图进行优化获得最终的深度信息。实验结果表明,该方法显著降低了估计深度 图的平均误差,改善了深度估计的质量。     

基于小波域空间树结构的合成孔径雷达图像压缩

空间树结构SOT(Spatial-Orientation Tree)在基于小波的SAR图像压缩中扮演着及其重要的角色,包括EZW(Embedded Zero-tree Wavelet)和SPIHT(Set Partitioning in Hierarchical Trees)的图像压缩编码方法,都利用了SOT中的父子关系。斑点噪声的存在,严重降低了SAR图像的质量和可压缩性。作为研究不同分辨率小波系数的空间相关性的非常有效的数据结构,SOT在斑点噪声去除中并没有得到很好的利用。提出一种新的SAR图像压缩方法,该方法结合基于SOT结构的斑点噪声去除和EZW嵌入式零树编码算法,对机载合成孔径雷达图像压缩实验的结果显示,该方法优于JPEG和标准EZW算法。     

The effect of image compression on synthetic PROBA-V images

We have carried out an in-depth investigation into the effects of image compression on synthetic Probe for On-Board Autonomy – Vegetation (PROBA-V) scenes and Landsat-derived image tiles. The two image compression implementations used were the TER implementation and a bespoke implementation of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Blue Book standard, which are functionally identical but operate on different image architectures. This work included (1) the development of an approach for producing synthetic scenes that were appropriate in terms of structure and content, and (2) evaluation of the image compression approach on the two kinds of image in terms of their usefulness for land-cover mapping. The synthetic image (SI) generation approach has been rigorously tested and produces images that are statistically similar to real scenes, both compressed and uncompressed. The results of our work show that the effects of image compression vary significantly between bands and with different compression ratios, and that the impact of image compression on image quality does vary with spatial scale. We also found indications of increased error rate at boundaries within the imagery. While the SI generation process and the processing chain of this imagery are not completely consistent with PROBA-V imagery, agreement was found among many of the results produced by the two approaches.     

A Collaborative Digital Pathology System for Multi‐Touch Mobile and Desktop Computing Platforms

Collaborative slide image viewing systems are becoming increasingly important in pathology applications such as telepathology and E‐learning. Despite rapid advances in computing and imaging technology, current digital pathology systems have limited performance with respect to remote viewing of whole slide images on desktop or mobile computing devices. In this paper we present a novel digital pathology client–server system that supports collaborative viewing of multi‐plane whole slide images over standard networks using multi‐touch‐enabled clients. Our system is built upon a standard HTTP web server and a MySQL database to allow multiple clients to exchange image and metadata concurrently. We introduce a domain‐specific image‐stack compression method that leverages real‐time hardware decoding on mobile devices. It adaptively encodes image stacks in a decorrelated colour space to achieve extremely low bitrates (0.8 bpp) with very low loss of image quality. We evaluate the image quality of our compression method and the performance of our system for diagnosis with an in‐depth user study.     

Objective image quality measurement by local spatial‐frequency wavelet analysis

An essential determinant of the value of surrogate digital images is their quality. Image quality measurement has become crucial for most image processing applications. Over the past years, there have been many attempts to develop models or metrics for image quality that incorporate elements of human visual sensitivity. However, there is no current standard and objective definition of spectral image quality. This paper proposes a reliable automatic method for objective image quality measurement by local spatial‐frequency wavelet analysis. The analysis is performed locally by dividing an image into 64×64 pixel blocks, and transforming the data into wavelet domain and sub‐band image domain. A fast lifting wavelet algorithm is developed for computationally efficient spatial‐frequency deconstruction of images to extract the features of edges in sub‐band datasets. Wavelet analysis throughout the spatial‐frequency range with respect to noise, sharpness, brightness, contrast, and modulation transfer function (MTF) reveals more detailed information to relate the quality of an image to the interpretation by using an artificial neural network to optimize weightings and results in a promising quantitative measure of image quality. Experimental results from using this method for image quality measurement exhibit good correlation to subjective visual quality assessments. The proposed approach with fast computation provides a potential metric for reliable image quality quantification, allowing image quality to be automatically evaluated following image capture/compression, but prior to permanent storage in a database.     

基于自组织特征映射的图像压缩技术

计算机人工神经网络技术提供了新的图像压缩方法。自组织特征映射人工神经网络就能够用于图像的有损压缩。通过将图像分成若干小块,然后使用神经网络进行训练达到特征向量自动聚类,从而将这若干个图像块分成不同的类,其类别个数远小于图像块的个数,最后使用一个映射表保存这些信息。该方式,将图像中相同或者非常相似的部分归为一类,降低了信息冗余度,从而可以进行图像的有损压缩。该方法采用了计算机神经网络,有比较好的适应性,能够方便的和其它压缩技术结合实现效果更好的混合压缩,具有良好的推广价值。     

Vector-quantization-based video codec for software-only playback on personal computers

This paper discusses a video compression and decompression method based on vector quantization (VQ) for use on general purpose computer systems without specialized hardware. After describing basic VQ coding, we survey common VQ variations and discuss their impediments in light of the target application. We discuss how the proposed video codec was designed to reduce computational complexity in every principal task of the video codec process. We propose a classified VQ scheme that satisfies the data rate, image quality, decoding speed, and encoding speed objectives for software-only video playback. The functional components of the proposed VQ method are covered in detail. The method employs a pseudo-YUV color space and criteria to detect temporal redundancy and low spatial frequency regions. A treestructured-codebook generation algorithm is proposed to reduce encoding execution time while preserving image quality. Two separate vector codebooks, each generated with the treestructured search, are employed for detail and low spatial frequency blocks. Codebook updating and sharing are proposed to further improve encoder speed and compression.     

A new depth image quality metric using a pair of color and depth images

Typical depth quality metrics require the ground truth depth image or stereoscopic color image pair, which are not always available in many practical applications. In this paper, we propose a new depth image quality metric which demands only a single pair of color and depth images. Our observations reveal that the depth distortion is strongly related to the local image characteristics, which in turn leads us to formulate a new distortion assessment method for the edge and non-edge pixels in the depth image. The local depth distortion is adaptively weighted using the Gabor filtered color image and added up to the global depth image quality metric. The experimental results show that the proposed metric closely approximates the depth quality metrics that use the ground truth depth or stereo color image pair.     

基于JPEG/JPEG2000相结合的医学图像感兴趣区域压缩

提出了一种基于JPEG/JPEG2000相结合的医学图像感兴趣区域压缩方法.该方法对在人为选定医学图像的感兴趣区域采用无损的JPEG2000压缩,而对其他图像区域则采用高压缩比的JPEG压缩,从而较好地解决了医学图像的高压缩比和高质量之间的矛盾.通过对一副人脑MRI医学图像的压缩实验,得到了压缩比12:1,并且病灶区图像信息完整的压缩图像.