A Review on Block Matching Motion Estimation and Automata Theory based Approaches for Fractal Coding

Fractal compression is the lossy compression technique in the field of gray/color image and video compression. It gives high compression ratio, better image quality with fast decoding time but improvement in encoding time is a challenge. This review paper/article presents the analysis of most significant existing approaches in the field of fractal based gray/color images and video compression, different block matching motion estimation approaches for finding out the motion vectors in a frame based on inter-frame coding and intra-frame coding i.e. individual frame coding and automata theory based coding approaches to represent an image/sequence of images. Though different review papers exist related to fractal coding, this paper is different in many sense. One can develop the new shape pattern for motion estimation and modify the existing block matching motion estimation with automata coding to explore the fractal compression technique with specific focus on reducing the encoding time and achieving better image/video reconstruction quality. This paper is useful for the beginners in the domain of video compression

Distributed video through telecommunication networks using fractal image compression techniques

The research presented in this thesis investigates the use of fractal compression techniques for a real time video distribution system. The motivation for this work was that the method has some useful properties which satisfy many requirements for video compression. In addition, as a novel technique, the fractal compression method has a great potential. In this thesis, we initially develop an understanding of the state of the art in image and video compression and describe the mathematical concepts and basic terminology of the fractal compression algorithm. Several schemes which aim to the improve of the algorithm, for still images are then examined. Amongst these, two novel contributions are described. The first is the partitioning of the image into sections which resulted insignificant reduction of the compression time. In the second, the use of the median metric as alternative to the RMS was considered but was not finally adopted, since the RMS proved to be a more efficient measure. The extension of the fractal compression algorithm from still images to image sequences is then examined and three different schemes to reduce the temporal redundancy of the video compression algorithm are described. The reduction in the execution time of the compression algorithm that can be obtained by the techniques described is significant although real time execution has not yet been achieved. Finally, the basic concepts of distributed programming and networks, as basic elements of a video distribution system, are presented and the hardware and software components of a fractal video distribution system are described. The implementation of the fractal compression algorithm on a TMS320C40 is also considered for speed benefits and it is found that a relatively large number of processors are needed for real time execution

Modified Three-Step Search Block Matching Motion Estimation and Weighted Finite Automata based Fractal Video Compression

The major challenge with fractal image/video coding technique is that, it requires more encoding time. Therefore, how to reduce the encoding time is the research component remains in the fractal coding. Block matching motion estimation algorithms are used, to reduce the computations performed in the process of encoding. The objective of the proposed work is to develop an approach for video coding using modified three step search (MTSS) block matching algorithm and weighted finite automata (WFA) coding with a specific focus on reducing the encoding time. The MTSS block matching algorithm are used for computing motion vectors between the two frames i.e. displacement of pixels and WFA is used for the coding as it behaves like the Fractal Coding (FC). WFA represents an image (frame or motion compensated prediction error) based on the idea of fractal that the image has self-similarity in itself. The self-similarity is sought from the symmetry of an image, so the encoding algorithm divides an image into multi-levels of quad-tree segmentations and creates an automaton from the sub-images. The proposed MTSS block matching algorithm is based on the combination of rectangular and hexagonal search pattern and compared with the existing New Three-Step Search (NTSS), Three-Step Search (TSS), and Efficient Three-Step Search (ETSS) block matching estimation algorithm. The performance of the proposed MTSS block matching algorithm is evaluated on the basis of performance evaluation parameters i.e. mean absolute difference (MAD) and average search points required per frame. Mean of absolute difference (MAD) distortion function is used as the block distortion measure (BDM). Finally, developed approaches namely, MTSS and WFA, MTSS and FC, and Plane FC (applied on every frame) are compared with each other. The experimentations are carried out on the standard uncompressed video databases, namely, akiyo, bus, mobile, suzie, traffic, football, soccer, ice etc. Developed approaches are compared on the basis of performance evaluation parameters, namely, encoding time, decoding time, compression ratio and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). The video compression using MTSS and WFA coding performs better than MTSS and fractal coding, and frame by frame fractal coding in terms of achieving reduced encoding time and better quality of video

Object Detection and Tracking using Modified Diamond Search Block Matching Motion Estimation Algorithm

Object tracking is one of the main fields within computer vision. Amongst various methods/ approaches for object detection and tracking, the background subtraction approach makes the detection of object easier. To the detected object, apply the proposed block matching algorithm for generating the motion vectors. The existing diamond search (DS) and cross diamond search algorithms (CDS) are studied and experiments are carried out on various standard video data sets and user defined data sets. Based on the study and analysis of these two existing algorithms a modified diamond search pattern (MDS) algorithm is proposed using small diamond shape search pattern in initial step and large diamond shape (LDS) in further steps for motion estimation. The initial search pattern consists of five points in small diamond shape pattern and gradually grows into a large diamond shape pattern, based on the point with minimum cost function. The algorithm ends with the small shape pattern at last. The proposed MDS algorithm finds the smaller motion vectors and fewer searching points than the existing DS and CDS algorithms. Further, object detection is carried out by using background subtraction approach and finally, MDS motion estimation algorithm is used for tracking the object in color video sequences. The experiments are carried out by using different video data sets containing a single object. The results are evaluated and compared by using the evaluation parameters like average searching points per frame and average computational time per frame. The experimental results show that the MDS performs better than DS and CDS on average search point and average computation time

Fast Search Approaches for Fractal Image Coding: Review of Contemporary Literature

Fractal Image Compression FIC as a model was conceptualized in the 1989 In furtherance there are numerous models that has been developed in the process Existence of fractals were initially observed and depicted in the Iterated Function System IFS and the IFS solutions were used for encoding images The process of IFS pertaining to any image constitutes much lesser space for recording than the actual image which has led to the development of representation the image using IFS form and how the image compression systems has taken shape It is very important that the time consumed for encoding has to be addressed for achieving optimal compression conditions and predominantly the inputs that are shared in the solutions proposed in the study depict the fact that despite of certain developments that has taken place still there are potential chances of scope for improvement From the review of exhaustive range of models that are depicted in the model it is evident that over period of time numerous advancements have taken place in the FCI model and is adapted at image compression in varied levels This study focus on the existing range of literature on FCI and the insights of various models has been depicted in this stud

An investigation into Quadtree fractal image and video compression

Digital imaging is the representation of drawings, photographs and pictures in a format that can be displayed and manipulated using a conventional computer. Digital imaging has enjoyed increasing popularity over recent years, with the explosion of digital photography, the Internet and graphics-intensive applications and games. Digitised images, like other digital media, require a relatively large amount of storage space. These storage requirements can become problematic as demands for higher resolution images increases and the resolution capabilities of digital cameras improve. It is not uncommon for a personal computer user to have a collection of thousands of digital images, mainly photographs, whilst the Internet’s Web pages present a practically infinite source. These two factors 一 image size and abundance 一 inevitably lead to a storage problem. As with other large files, data compression can help reduce these storage requirements. Data compression aims to reduce the overall storage requirements for a file by minimising redundancy. The most popular image compression method, JPEG, can reduce the storage requirements for a photographic image by a factor of ten whilst maintaining the appearance of the original image 一 or can deliver much greater levels of compression with a slight loss of quality as a trade-off. Whilst JPEG's efficiency has made it the definitive image compression algorithm, there is always a demand for even greater levels of compression and as a result new image compression techniques are constantly being explored. One such technique utilises the unique properties of Fractals. Fractals are relatively small mathematical formulae that can be used to generate abstract and often colourful images with infinite levels of detail. This property is of interest in the area of image compression because a detailed, high-resolution image can be represented by a few thousand bytes of formulae and coefficients rather than the more typical multi-megabyte filesizes. The real challenge associated with Fractal image compression is to determine the correct set of formulae and coefficients to represent the image a user is trying to compress; it is trivial to produce an image from a given formula but it is much, much harder to produce a formula from a given image. เท theory, Fractal compression can outperform JPEG for a given image and quality level, if the appropiate formulae can be determined. Fractal image compression can also be applied to digital video sequences, which are typically represented by a long series of digital images 一 or 'frames'

Metrics for Stereoscopic Image Compression

Metrics for automatically predicting the compression settings for stereoscopic images, to minimize file size, while still maintaining an acceptable level of image quality are investigated. This research evaluates whether symmetric or asymmetric compression produces a better quality of stereoscopic image. Initially, how Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) measures the quality of varyingly compressed stereoscopic image pairs was investigated. Two trials with human subjects, following the ITU-R BT.500-11 Double Stimulus Continuous Quality Scale (DSCQS) were undertaken to measure the quality of symmetric and asymmetric stereoscopic image compression. Computational models of the Human Visual System (HVS) were then investigated and a new stereoscopic image quality metric designed and implemented. The metric point matches regions of high spatial frequency between the left and right views of the stereo pair and accounts for HVS sensitivity to contrast and luminance changes in these regions. The PSNR results show that symmetric, as opposed to asymmetric stereo image compression, produces significantly better results. The human factors trial suggested that in general, symmetric compression of stereoscopic images should be used. The new metric, Stereo Band Limited Contrast, has been demonstrated as a better predictor of human image quality preference than PSNR and can be used to predict a perceptual threshold level for stereoscopic image compression. The threshold is the maximum compression that can be applied without the perceived image quality being altered. Overall, it is concluded that, symmetric, as opposed to asymmetric stereo image encoding, should be used for stereoscopic image compression. As PSNR measures of image quality are correctly criticized for correlating poorly with perceived visual quality, the new HVS based metric was developed. This metric produces a useful threshold to provide a practical starting point to decide the level of compression to use

An investigation into the requirements for an efficient image transmission system over an ATM network

This thesis looks into the problems arising in an image transmission system when transmitting over an A TM network. Two main areas were investigated: (i) an alternative coding technique to reduce the bit rate required; and (ii) concealment of errors due to cell loss, with emphasis on processing in the transform domain of DCT-based images. [Continues.

An overview Survey on Various Video compressions and its importance

With the rise of digital computing and visual data processing, the need for storage and transmission of video data became prevalent. Storage and transmission of uncompressed raw visual data is not a good practice, because it requires a large storage space and great bandwidth. Video compression algorithms can compress this raw visual data or video into smaller files with a little sacrifice on the quality. This paper an overview and comparison of standard efforts on video compression algorithm of: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-