title: Fast variable run-length coding for embedded progressive wavelet-based image compression.
abstract: Run-length coding has attracted much attention in wavelet-based image compression because of its simplicity and potentially low complexity. The main drawback is the inferior RD-performance compared to the state-of-the-art-coder SPIHT. In this paper, we concentrate on the embedded progressive run-length code of Tian and Wells (1996, 1998). We consider significance sequences drawn from the scan in the dominant pass. It turns out that self-similar curves for scanning the dominant pass increase the compression efficiency significantly. This is a consequence of the correlation of direct neighbors in the wavelet domain. This dependence can be better exploited by using groups of coefficients, similar to the SPIHT algorithm. This results in a new and very fast coding algorithm, which shows performance similar to the state-of-the-art coder SPIHT, but with lower complexity and small and fixed memory overhead.
authors.affiliation: Center for Med. Diagnostic Syst. and Visualization, Bremen, Germany. wilhelm.berghorn@mevis.de
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Berghorn
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boskamp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: H O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Peitgen