Primitive-based image coding technique for still pictures

A new image coding technique for achieving an extremely high compression ratio while producing good image quality is described. The idea is analogous to that used in forensic applications when constructing a composite image of a criminal from a collection of images of facial features. The imput image is segmented into complicated primitives that are coded using previously constructed database of primitives. A duplicate database is used at the receiver to decode the primitives. The decoded primitives are assembled as in computer animation to produce a faithful reconstruction of the original image. The technique has been applied to head-and-shoulders images and compression ratios over 1000:1 have been achieved