4

Image Compression
The first part of this chapter discusses the basic features and types of digital images
and
the main approaches to image compression. This is followed by a description of about
30 different compression methods. The author would like to start with the following
observations:
1. Why were these particular methods included in the book, while others were left
out? The simple answer is: Because of the documentation available to the author.
Image compression methods that are well documented were included. Methods that
are
proprietary, or whose documentation was not clear to the author, were left out.
2. The treatment of the various methods is uneven. This, again, reflects the
documentation
available to the author. Some methods have been documented by their developers
in great detail, and this is reflected in this chapter. Where no detailed documentation
was available for a compression algorithm, only its basic principles are outlined here.
3. There is no attempt to compare the various methods described here. This is
because
most image compression methods have been designed for a specific type of image,
and
also because of the practical difficulties of getting all the software and adapting it to
run
on the same platform.
4. The compression methods described in this chapter are not arranged in any
particular
order. After much thought and many trials, the author gave up any hope of sorting
the
compression methods in any reasonable way. Readers looking for any particular
method
may consult the table of contents and the detailed index to easily locate it.
A digital image is a rectangular array of dots, or picture elements, arranged in m
rows and n columns. The expression m×n is called the resolution of the image, and
the
dots are called pixels (except in the cases of fax images and video compression,
where
they are referred to as pels). The term “resolution” is sometimes also used to
indicate
the number of pixels per unit length of the image. Thus, dpi stands for dots per inch.
For the purpose of image compression it is useful to distinguish the following types of
images: