Progressive imagery with scalable vector graphics

Vector graphics can be scaled without loss of quality, making them suitable for mobile image communication where a given graphics must be typically represented in high quality for a wide range of screen resolutions. One problem is that file size increases rapidly as content becomes more detailed, which can reduce response times and efficiency in mobile settings. Analog issues for large raster imagery have been overcome using progressive refinement schemes. Similar ideas have already been applied to vector graphics, but an implementation that is compliant to a major and widely adopted standard is still missing. In this publication we show how to provide progressive refinement schemes based on the extendable Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) standard. We propose two strategies: decomposition of the original SVG and incremental transmission using (1) several linked files and (2) element-wise streaming of a single file. The publication discusses how both strategies are employed in mobile image communication scenarios where the user can interactively define RoIs for prioritized image communication, and reports initial results we obtained from a prototypically implemented client/server setup.