The JPEG2000 still image coding system: An overview

With the increasing use of multimedia technologies, image compression requi res higher performance as well as new features. To address this need in the specific area of still image encoding, a new standard is currently being d eveloped, the JPEG2000. It is not only intended to provide rate-distortion and subjective image quality performance superior to existing standards, bu t also to provide features and functionalities that current standards can e ither not address efficiently or in many cases cannot address at all. Lossl ess and lossy compression, embedded lossy to lossless coding, progressive t ransmission by pixel accuracy and by resolution, robustness to the presence of bit-errors and region-of-interest coding, are some representative featu res. It is interesting to note that JPEG2000 is being designed to address t he requirements of a diversity of applications, e.g. Internet, color facsim ile, printing, scanning, digital photography, remote sensing, mobile applic ations, medical imagery, digital library and E-commerce.