Multiple dynamic range image coding for wireless sensor networks

High dynamic range (HDR) images require a higher number of bits per color channel than traditional images. This brings about problems to storage and transmission, especially in distributed wireless sensor networks in which transmission capability and energy consumption are critical issues. The paper proposes a structure of compressing multiple dynamic range images, which is called multiple dynamic range (MDR) coding. MDR imaging system is attractive due to the capability of reconstructing lower dynamic range images from partial bitstream. MDR coding shows its advantages in terms of energy efficiency in distributed wireless sensor networks. The efficacy of MDR coding is also illustrated by presenting the results of encoding a series of synthetic and natural MDR images.