Improved Chen-Smith image coder

A new transform coder based on the zonal sampling strategy, which outperforms the JPEG baseline coder with comparable computational complexity, is presented. The primary transform used is the 8- × 8-pixel-block discrete cosine transform, although it can be replaced by other transforms, such as the lapped orthogonal transform, without any change in the algorithm. This coder is originally based on the Chen-Smith coder, therefore, we call it an improved Chen-Smith (ICS) coder. However, because many new features were incorporated in this improved version, it largely outperforms its predecessor. Key approaches in the ICS coder, such as a new quantizer design, arithmetic coders, noninteger bit-rate allocation, decimated variance maps, distance-based block classification, and human visual sensitivity weighting, are essential for its high performance. Image compression programs were developed and applied to several test images. The results show that the ICS performs substantially better than the JPEG coder.