Non-uniform Quantization of Detail Components in Wavelet Transformed Image for Lossy JPEG2000 Compression

TL;DR

This paper proposes a non-uniform quantization method for wavelet detail components in JPEG2000, aiming to enhance image quality and compression efficiency by better preserving edge information with fewer quantized values.

Contribution

It introduces a variable step size quantization scheme for wavelet detail coefficients, improving image compression by reducing redundancy and preserving edges.

Findings

Preliminary results show improved image quality.

Reduction in the number of quantized values needed.

Potential for enhanced compression efficiency.

Abstract

The paper introduces the idea of non-uniform quantization in the detail components of wavelet transformed image. It argues that most of the coefficients of horizontal, vertical and diagonal components lie near to zeros and the coefficients representing large differences are few at the extreme ends of histogram. Therefore, this paper advocates need for variable step size quantization scheme which preserves the edge information at the edge of histogram and removes redundancy with the minimal number of quantized values. To support the idea, preliminary results are provided using a non-uniform quantization algorithm. We believe that successful implementation of non-uniform quantization in detail components in JPEG-2000 still image standard will improve image quality and compression efficiency with lesser number of quantized values.