Restoration of lossy compressed noisy images

Noise degrades the performance of any image compression algorithm. However, at very low bit rates, image coders effectively filter noise that may he present in the image, thus, enabling the coder to operate closer to the noise free case. Unfortunately, at these low bit rates the quality of the compressed image is reduced and very distinctive coding artifacts occur. This paper proposes a combined restoration of the compressed image from both the artifacts introduced by the coder along with the additive noise. The proposed approach is applied to images corrupted by data-dependent Poisson noise and to images corrupted by film-grain noise when compressed using a block transform-coder such as JPEG. This approach has proved to be effective in terms of visual quality and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) when tested on simulated and real images.     

VQ Based on a Main Feature Classification in Images

A number of algorithms have been developed for lossy image compression. Among the existing techniques, a block-based scheme is widely used because of its tractability even for complex coding schemes. Fixed block-size coding, which is the simplest implementation of block-based schemes, suffers from the nonstationary nature of images. The formidable blocking artifacts always appear at low bit rates. To suppress this degradation, variable block-size coding is utilized. However, the allowable range of sizes is still limited because of complexity issues. By adaptively representing each region by its feature, input to the coder is transformed to fixed-size (8×8) blocks. This capability allows lower cross-correlation among the regions. Input feature is also classified into the proper group so that vector quantization can maximize its strength compatible with human visual sensitivity. Bit rate based on this algorithm is minimized with the new bit allocation algorithm. Simulation results show a similar performance in terms of PSNR over conventional discrete cosine transform in conjunction with classified vector quantization.     

Object-Based Very Low Bit-Rate Coding Using Motion Parameter Estimation Based on Multiple Frame Prediction

This paper proposes an object-oriented coding method in very low bit-rate channels, using the motion estimation technique based on multiple frame prediction. In most existing methods, only the global motion components are transmitted. So the images containing abrupt motions and noise yield large error, even after texture compensation using the discrete cosine transform (DCT). To reduce the global motion prediction error due to usage of rigid motion parameters, residual image mapping is employed. Since high computational complexity is required for local motion correction using residual image mapping, simplified global motion prediction prior to local motion refinement parameter extraction is proposed to reduce the burden of the overall coder complexity. Computer simulation results show that the proposed method gives good performances in terms of the subjective quality, the peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), and the compression ratio (CR).     

基于局部余弦变换的低比特变速率语音编码算法研究

提出将局部余弦变换(LCT)算法应用于语音编码中,系统设计了一个平均比特率近1.6kbit/s的低比特变速率语音编码器。在变比特率编码器设计中采用SVM算法进行VAD检测。激活语音帧的语音模式采用GSM半速率编码中的划分方法,但将其中的强浊音模式和中浊音模式合并为一个中强浊音模式。对各类语音模式和无声帧(背景噪声)的局部余弦变换系数采用分维矢量量化算法进行量化,码书设计采用LGB算法。编码中的码书搜索采用树形快速搜索算法。通过主观非正式听力测试表明设计的变比特率编码器编码的重建语音MOS约为3.15,与比特率为2.4kbit/s美国联邦声码器标准MELP的重建语音相当,具有较强的顽健性,适合于对存在各种环境噪声的语音进行编码。     

Postprocessing technique for blocking artifacts reduction in DCT domain

An effective post-processing technique is proposed to reduce the blocking artifacts in the block discrete cosine transform (BDCT)-coded images. Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme outperforms conventional post-processing techniques in both PSNR and visual quality.     

Adaptive coding of moving objects for very low bit rates

This paper describes an object-based video coding system with new ideas in both the motion analysis and source encoding procedures. The moving objects in a video are extracted by means of a joint motion estimation and segmentation algorithm based on the Markov random field (MRF) model. The two important features of the presented technique are the temporal linking of the objects, and the guidance of the motion segmentation with spatial color information. This facilitates several aspects of an object-based coder. First, a new temporal updating scheme greatly reduces the bit rate to code the object boundaries without resorting to crude lossy approximations. Next, the uncovered regions can be extracted and encoded in an efficient manner by observing their revealed contents. The objects are classified adaptively as P objects or I objects and encoded accordingly. Subband/wavelet coding is applied in encoding the object interiors. Simulations at very low bit rates yielded comparable performance in terms of reconstructed PSNR to the H.263 coder. The object-based coder produced visually more pleasing video with less blurriness and devoid of block artifacts, thus confirming the advantages of object-based coding at very low bit-rates     

Adaptive image coding with perceptual distortion control

This paper presents a discrete cosine transform (DCT)-based locally adaptive perceptual image coder, which discriminates between image components based on their perceptual relevance for achieving increased performance in terms of quality and bit rate. The new coder uses a locally adaptive perceptual quantization scheme based on a tractable perceptual distortion metric. Our strategy is to exploit human visual masking properties by deriving visual masking thresholds in a locally adaptive fashion. The derived masking thresholds are used in controlling the quantization stage by adapting the quantizer reconstruction levels in order to meet the desired target perceptual distortion. The proposed coding scheme is flexible in that it can be easily extended to work with any subband-based decomposition in addition to block-based transform methods. Compared to existing perceptual coding methods, the proposed perceptual coding method exhibits superior performance in terms of bit rate and distortion control. Coding results are presented to illustrate the performance of the presented coding scheme.     

New Blocking Artifacts Reduction Method Based on Wavelet Transform

It is well known that a block discrete cosine transform compressed image exhibits visually annoying blocking artifacts at low-bit-rate. A new post-processing deblocking algorithm in wavelet domain is proposed. The algorithm exploits blocking-artifact features shown in wavelet domain. The energy of blocking artifacts is concentrated into some lines to form annoying visual effects after wavelet transform. The aim of reducing blocking artifacts is to capture excessive energy on the block boundary effectively and reduce it below the visual scope. Adaptive operators for different subbands are computed based on the wavelet coefficients. The operators are made adaptive to different images and characteristics of blocking artifacts. Experimental results show that the proposed method can significantly improve the visual quality and also increase the peak signal-noise-ratio（PSNR） in the output image.     

Fast adaptive wavelet packet image compression

Wavelets are ill-suited to represent oscillatory patterns: rapid variations of intensity can only be described by the small scale wavelet coefficients, which are often quantized to zero, even at high bit rates. Our goal is to provide a fast numerical implementation of the best wavelet packet algorithm in order to demonstrate that an advantage can be gained by constructing a basis adapted to a target image. Emphasis is placed on developing algorithms that are computationally efficient. We developed a new fast two-dimensional (2-D) convolution decimation algorithm with factorized nonseparable 2-D filters. The algorithm is four times faster than a standard convolution-decimation. An extensive evaluation of the algorithm was performed on a large class of textured images. Because of its ability to reproduce textures so well, the wavelet packet coder significantly out performs one of the best wavelet coder on images such as Barbara and fingerprints, both visually and in term of PSNR.     

Patch based image denoising using the finite ridgelet transform for less artifacts

Patch based denoising methods have proved to lead to state-of-the-art results. However, in contrast with intensive pursuing of higher peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), less attention is paid to visual quality improvement of denoised images. In this paper, we first compare the denoising performance in edge and smooth regions. Results reveal that edge regions are the main source for potential performance improvement. This motivates us to investigate the use of the finite ridgelet transform as a local transform for better preservation of directional singularities. A two stage denoising algorithm is then proposed to improve the representation of detail structures. Experimental results in denoising images which only contain white noise show that the proposed algorithm consistently outperforms other methods in terms of PSNR and Structural SIMilarity index. Denoised images by the proposed method also demonstrate good visual quality with the least artifacts and fake structures in experiments on natural images.     

Low-rate and flexible image coding with redundant representations.

New breakthroughs in image coding possibly lie in signal decomposition through nonseparable basis functions that can efficiently capture edge characteristics, present in natural images. The work proposed in this paper provides an adaptive way of representing images as a sum of two-dimensional features. It presents a low bit-rate image coding method based on a matching pursuit (MP) expansion, over a dictionary built on anisotropic refinement and rotation of contour-like atoms. This method is shown to provide, at low bit rates, results comparable to the state of the art in image compression, represented here by JPEG2000 and SPIHT, with generally a better visual quality in the MP scheme. The coding artifacts are less annoying than the ringing introduced by wavelets at very low bit rate, due to the smoothing performed by the basis functions used in the MP algorithm. In addition to good compression performances at low bit rates, the new coder has the advantage of producing highly flexible streams. They can easily be decoded at any spatial resolution, different from the original image, and the bitstream can be truncated at any point to match diverse bandwidth requirements. The spatial adaptivity is shown to be more flexible and less complex than transcoding operations generally applied to state of the art codec bitstreams. Due to both its ability for capturing the most important parts of multidimensional signals, and a flexible stream structure, the image coder proposed in this paper represents an interesting solution for low to medium rate image coding in visual communication applications.     

Improvement of DCT-based compression algorithms using Poisson's equation.

We propose two new image compression-decompression methods that reproduce images with better visual fidelity, less blocking artifacts, and better PSNR, particularly in low bit rates, than those processed by the JPEG Baseline method at the same bit rates. The additional computational cost is small, i.e., linearly proportional to the number of pixels in an input image. The first method, the "full mode" polyharmonic local cosine transform (PHLCT), modifies the encoder and decoder parts of the JPEG Baseline method. The goal of the full mode PHLCT is to reduce the code size in the encoding part and reduce the blocking artifacts in the decoder part. The second one, the "partial mode" PHLCT (or PPHLCT for short), modifies only the decoder part, and consequently, accepts the JPEG files, yet decompresses them with higher quality with less blocking artifacts. The key idea behind these algorithms is a decomposition of each image block into a polyharmonic component and a residual. The polyharmonic component in this paper is an approximate solution to Poisson's equation with the Neumann boundary condition, which means that it is a smooth predictor of the original image block only using the image gradient information across the block boundary. Thus, the residual--obtained by removing the polyharmonic component from the original image block--has approximately zero gradient across the block boundary, which gives rise to the fast-decaying DCT coefficients, which, in turn, lead to more efficient compression-decompression algorithms for the same bit rates. We show that the polyharmonic component of each block can be estimated solely by the first column and row of the DCT coefficient matrix of that block and those of its adjacent blocks and can predict an original image data better than some of the other AC prediction methods previously proposed. Our numerical experiments objectively and subjectively demonstrate the superiority of PHLCT over the JPEG Baseline method and the improvement of the JPEG-compressed images when decompressed by PPHLCT.     

Locally adaptive perceptual image coding

Most existing efforts in image and video compression have focused on developing methods to minimize not perceptual but rather mathematically tractable, easy to measure, distortion metrics. While nonperceptual distortion measures were found to be reasonably reliable for higher bit rates (high-quality applications), they do not correlate well with the perceived quality at lower bit rates and they fail to guarantee preservation of important perceptual qualities in the reconstructed images despite the potential for a good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This paper presents a perceptual-based image coder, which discriminates between image components based on their perceptual relevance for achieving increased performance in terms of quality and bit rate. The new coder is based on a locally adaptive perceptual quantization scheme for compressing the visual data. Our strategy is to exploit human visual masking properties by deriving visual masking thresholds in a locally adaptive fashion based on a subband decomposition. The derived masking thresholds are used in controlling the quantization stage by adapting the quantizer reconstruction levels to the local amount of masking present at the level of each subband transform coefficient. Compared to the existing non-locally adaptive perceptual quantization methods, the new locally adaptive algorithm exhibits superior performance and does not require additional side information. This is accomplished by estimating the amount of available masking from the already quantized data and linear prediction of the coefficient under consideration. By virtue of the local adaptation, the proposed quantization scheme is able to remove a large amount of perceptually redundant information. Since the algorithm does not require additional side information, it yields a low entropy representation of the image and is well suited for perceptually lossless image compression.     

On the use of independent component analysis for image compression

This paper addresses the use of independent component analysis (ICA) for image compression. Our goal is to study the adequacy (for lossy transform compression) of bases learned from data using ICA. Since these bases are, in general, non-orthogonal, two methods are considered to obtain image representations: matching pursuit type algorithms and orthogonalization of the ICA bases followed by standard orthogonal projection.Several coder architectures are evaluated and compared, using both the usual SNR and a perceptual quality measure called picture quality scale. We consider four classes of images (natural, faces, fingerprints, and synthetic) to study the generalization and adaptation abilities of the data-dependent ICA bases. In this study, we have observed that: bases learned from natural images generalize well to other classes of images; bases learned from the other specific classes show good specialization. For example, for fingerprint images, our coders perform close to the special-purpose WSQ coder developed by the FBI. For some classes, the visual quality of the images obtained with our coders is similar to that obtained with JPEG2000, which is currently the state-of-the-art coder and much more sophisticated than a simple transform coder.We conclude that ICA provides a excellent tool for learning a coder for a specific image class, which can even be done using a single image from that class. This is an alternative to hand tailoring a coder for a given class (as was done, for example, in the WSQ for fingerprint images). Another conclusion is that a coder learned from natural images acts like an universal coder, that is, generalizes very well for a wide range of image classes.     

Postprocessing of low bit-rate block DCT coded images based on a fields of experts prior.

Transform coding using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) has been widely used in image and video coding standards, but at low bit rates, the coded images suffer from severe visual distortions which prevent further bit reduction. Postprocessing can reduce these distortions and alleviate the conflict between bit rate reduction and quality preservation. Viewing postprocessing as an inverse problem, we propose to solve it by the maximum a posteriori criterion. The distortion caused by coding is modeled as additive, spatially correlated Gaussian noise, while the original image is modeled as a high order Markov random field based on the fields of experts framework. Experimental results show that the proposed method, in most cases, achieves higher PSNR gain than other methods and the processed images possess good visual quality. In addition, we examine the noise model used and its parameter setting. The noise model assumes that the DCT coefficients and their quantization errors are independent. This assumption is no longer valid when the coefficients are truncated. We explain how this problem can be rectified using the current parameter setting.     

All phase biorthogonal transform and its application in JPEG-like image compression

This paper proposes new concepts of the all phase biorthogonal transform (APBT) and the dual biorthogonal basis vectors. In the light of all phase digital filtering theory, three kinds of all phase biorthogonal transforms based on the Walsh transform (WT), the discrete cosine transform (DCT) and the inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) are proposed. The matrices of APBT based on WT, DCT and IDCT are deduced, which can be used in image compression instead of the conventional DCT. Compared with DCT-based JPEG (DCT-JPEG) image compression algorithm at the same bit rates, the PSNR and visual quality of the reconstructed images using these transforms are approximate to DCT, outgoing DCT-JPEG at low bit rates especially. But the advantage is that the quantization table is simplified and the transform coefficients can be quantized uniformly. Therefore, the computing time becomes shorter and the hardware implementation easier.     

An adaptive 3-D discrete cosine transform coder for medical imagecompression

A new three-dimensional (3-D) discrete cosine transform (DCT) coder for medical images is presented. In the proposed method, a segmentation technique based on the local energy magnitude is used to segment subblocks of the image into different energy levels. Then, those subblocks with the same energy level are gathered to form a 3-D cuboid. Finally, 3-D DCT is employed to compress the 3-D cuboid individually. Simulation results show that the reconstructed images achieve a bit rate lower than 0.25 bit per pixel even when the compression ratios are higher than 35. As compared with the results by JPEG and other strategies, it is found that the proposed method achieves better qualities of decoded images     

Image coding with robust channel-optimized trellis-codedquantization

This paper presents a wavelet-based image coder that is optimized for transmission over the binary symmetric channel (BSC). The proposed coder uses a robust channel-optimized trellis-coded quantization (COTCQ) stage that is designed to optimize the image coding based on the channel characteristics. A phase scrambling stage is also used to further increase the coding performance and robustness to nonstationary signals and channels. The resilience to channel errors is obtained by optimizing the coder performance only at the level of the source encoder with no explicit channel coding for error protection. For the considered TCQ trellis structure, a general expression is derived for the transition probability matrix. In terms of the TCQ encoding rat and the channel bit error rate, and is used to design the COTCQ stage of the image coder. The robust nature of the coder also increases the security level of the encoded bit stream and provides a much more visually pleasing rendition of the decoded image. Examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed robust image coder     

A motion compensated subband coder for very low bit-rates

A motion compensated subband coder with block-based processing for very low bit-rate video coding is presented. The motion compensated prediction is realized by using overlapping blocks. A forward analysis is introduced to select the blocks to be updated. In contrast to the conventional subband coding which is applied to the whole image, the subband coding here is applied to selected blocks only. In order to reduce the number of samples to be coded, a symmetric-periodic extension technique is applied in each stage of the subband analysis and synthesis filtering. A psychovisual model of the human visual perception is used to control the bit allocation and the adaptive quantization. Experimental results obtained with the presented coder at transmission bit-rates of 8, 16 and 24 kbit/s are presented. A comparison of the presented coder with ITU-T TMN-3 coder shows, that a PSNR gain of about 2.0 dB is achieved for typical videophone sequences with head and shoulder scenes.     

A generalized Lloyd-type algorithm for adaptive transform coder design

In this paper, we establish a probabilistic framework for adaptive transform coding that leads to a generalized Lloyd type algorithm for transform coder design. Transform coders are often constructed by concatenating an ad hoc choice of transform with suboptimal bit allocation and quantizer design. Instead, we start from a probabilistic latent variable model in the form of a mixture of constrained Gaussian mixtures. From this model, we derive an transform coder design algorithm, which integrates optimization of all transform coder parameters. An essential part this algorithm is our introduction of a new transform basis-the coding optimal transform-which, unlike commonly used transforms, minimizes compression distortion. Adaptive transform coders can be effective for compressing databases of related imagery since the high overhead associated with these coders can be amortized over the entire database. For this work, we performed compression experiments on a database of synthetic aperture radar images. Our results show that adaptive coders improve compressed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by approximately 0.5 dB compared with global coders. Coders that incorporated the coding optimal transform had the best SNRs on the images used to develop the coder. However, coders that incorporated the discrete cosine transform generalized better to new images.