Enhancing fractal image compression with vector quantization

A novel hybrid scheme combining fractal image compression with mean-removed shape-gain vector quantization is presented. The algorithm, based on a distance classification fractal coder with fixed cluster centers, decides whether to encode a range block by a cluster center or by a domain block. Our scheme is shown to improve the performance of conventional fractal coding in all its aspects. The rate-distortion curve is ameliorated, and both the encoding and the decoding are faster