Image Compression Using the DCT and Noiselets: A New Algorithm and Its Rate Distortion Performance

We describe an image coding algorithm combining the DCT and noiselet information. The algorithm first transmits DCT information sufficient to reproduce a "low-quality" version of the image at the decoder. This image is then used both at the decoder and encoder to create a mutually known list of locations of likely significant noiselet coefficients. The coefficient values themselves are then transmitted to the decoder differentially, by subtracting, at the encoder, the low-quality image from the original image, obtaining the noiselet values and subjecting them to quantization and entropy coding. There remain significant opportunities for further work combining CS-inspired information theoretic techniques with the rate-distortion considerations that are critical in practical image communications.