The problem of reducing the amount of data required to represent a digital image.
From a mathematical viewpoint: transforming a 2-D pixel array into a statistically uncorrelated data set.
For data STORAGE and data TRANSMISSION
DVD
Remote Sensing
Video conference
FAX
Control of remotely piloted vehicle
The bit rate of uncompressed digital cinema data exceeds one Gbps.
Introduction
In today's digital era, where images form an integral part of communication, entertainment, medical diagnostics, and scientific analysis, the need for efficient image storage and transmission is paramount. Image compression addresses this need by reducing the amount of data required to represent a digital image. This is achieved by eliminating redundancies and using encoding schemes that preserve the most critical information. Compression not only saves storage space but also reduces the time and bandwidth required for image transmission, making it essential for applications ranging from web development to satellite imaging.
Image compression can be classified into two categories: lossless and lossy. While lossless compression preserves the exact original image, lossy compression allows some degradation in image quality in exchange for higher compression ratios. Understanding the trade-offs and techniques involved in image compression is crucial for professionals in computer science, electrical engineering, multimedia systems, and related fields.
This write-up explores the fundamentals of image compression, its techniques, mathematical foundations, evaluation metrics, challenges, and applications.
1. Fundamentals of Image Compression
Image compression involves transforming an image into a format that requires fewer bits while maintaining an acceptable level of quality. This is achieved by identifying and eliminating redundancies:
1.1 Redundancy Types
Spatial Redundancy: Correlation among neighboring pixels.
Spectral Redundancy: Correlation among color channels (especially in color images).
Temporal Redundancy: In video or sequences of images.
Psycho-visual Redundancy: Exploits the human visual system's limitations.
1.2 Compression Metrics
Compression Ratio (CR): Original size / Compressed size
Bits per Pixel (bpp): Average number of bits per image pixel
Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Mean Squared Error (MSE): Evaluate image quality