ADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS OF TWO-STEP APPROACH TO PROVIDING DESIRED PARAMETERS IN LOSSY IMAGE COMPRESSION

Abstract

The object of the study is the process of lossy image compression. The subject of the study is the two-step approach to providing desired parameters (quality and compression ratio) for different coders. The goals of the study are to review advantages of the two-step approach to lossy compression, to analyze the reasons of drawbacks, and to put forward possible ways to get around these shortcomings. Methods used: linear approximation, numerical simulation, statistical analysis. Results obtained: 1) the considered approach main advantage is that, in most applications, it provides substantial improvement of accuracy of providing a desired value of a controlled compression parameter after the second step compared to the first step; 2) the approach is quite universal and can be applied for different coders and different parameters of lossy compression to be provided; 3) the main problems and limitations happen due to the use of linear approximation and essential difference in behavior of rate/distortion curves for images of different complexity; 4) there are ways to avoid the approach drawbacks that employ adaptation to image complexity and/or use certain restrictions at the second step. Conclusions: based on the results of the study, it is worth 1) considering more complex approximations of rate-distortion curves; 2) paying more attention to adequate and fast algorithms of characterizing image complexity before compression; 3) using quality metrics that have quasi-linear rate/distortion curves for a given coder.