Fast encoding method for vector quantisation of images using subvector characteristics and Hadamard transform

In a framework of vector quantisation (VQ), the encoding speed is a key issue for its practical applications. To speed up the VQ encoding process, a fast encoding method in the Hadamard transform domain is presented. In the proposed method, a five-step test flow based on two characteristic values, the first element and variance of the transformed subvector, is introduced to reject a large number of unlikely codewords. In order to make full use of the energy-compaction property of an orthogonal transform, the partial distance search (PDS) method is used in its Steps 4 and 5. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms most of the existing algorithms, especially in case of larger codebook size and high-detail images.