A JBIG-based approach to the encoding of contour maps

Recently, a new technique for the lossless encoding of contour maps was introduced, based on the concept of “transition points.” In this paper, we show that by using a simple representation for the transition points, i.e., the map of transition points, the problem of encoding arbitrary contour maps can be easily converted into a problem of lossless image coding. Experimental results show that the joint bilevel image experts group (JBIG) image coding standard can be used successfully for encoding maps of transition points, outperforming, in most cases, differential chain-coding. Moreover, if we take into account that JBIG codecs are available as “off the shelf” components, then the effort required to implement the proposed method is small.