JPEG 2000 Part 4: how to test a scalable compression system

The development of the JPEG 2000 standard was quite contentious due to the widely varying goals of the participants. The result was that JPEG 2000 is the most flexible image compression standard to date. However, in order to complete the standard within the 2000 calendar year any definition of what a decoder must do was removed from the initial standard. JPEG 2000 Part 4 is the standard which defines conformance of a decoder (and to a lessor extent an encoder) with JPEG 2000. This paper describes how decisions were made about compliance with JPEG 2000 and the methods used for testing.