We study the problem of representing images within a multimedia Database Ma
nagement System (DBMS), in order to support fast retrieval operations witho
ut compromising storage efficiency. To achieve this goal, we propose new im
age coding techniques which combine a wavelet representation, embedded codi
ng of the wavelet coefficients, and segmentation of image-domain regions in
the wavelet domain. A bitstream is generated in which each image region is
encoded independently of other regions, without having to explicitly store
information describing the regions. Simulation results show that our propo
sed algorithms achieve coding performance which compares favorably, both pe
rceptually and objectively, to that achieved using state-of-the-art image/v
ideo coding techniques while additionally providing region-based support.