A Unified Image Preprocessing Framework For Image Compression

TL;DR

This paper introduces Kuchen, a unified image preprocessing framework that enhances existing image codecs' efficiency by combining a hybrid labeling system with a learning-based backbone, setting a new benchmark in image compression preprocessing.

Contribution

The paper presents the first unified preprocessing benchmark for image compression, significantly improving the performance of existing codecs through a novel hybrid and learning-based approach.

Findings

Modern codecs improved by the framework show increased compression efficiency.

The unified preprocessing benchmark outperforms traditional methods.

The approach is compatible with various existing codecs.

Abstract

With the development of streaming media technology, increasing communication relies on sound and visual information, which puts a massive burden on online media. Data compression becomes increasingly important to reduce the volume of data transmission and storage. To further improve the efficiency of image compression, researchers utilize various image processing methods to compensate for the limitations of conventional codecs and advanced learning-based compression methods. Instead of modifying the image compression oriented approaches, we propose a unified image compression preprocessing framework, called Kuchen, which aims to further improve the performance of existing codecs. The framework consists of a hybrid data labeling system along with a learning-based backbone to simulate personalized preprocessing. As far as we know, this is the first exploration of setting a unified preprocessing benchmark in image compression tasks. Results demonstrate that the modern codecs optimized by our unified preprocessing framework constantly improve the efficiency of the state-of-the-art compression.