10,537 research outputs found
Design of multimedia processor based on metric computation
Media-processing applications, such as signal processing, 2D and 3D graphics
rendering, and image compression, are the dominant workloads in many embedded
systems today. The real-time constraints of those media applications have
taxing demands on today's processor performances with low cost, low power and
reduced design delay. To satisfy those challenges, a fast and efficient
strategy consists in upgrading a low cost general purpose processor core. This
approach is based on the personalization of a general RISC processor core
according the target multimedia application requirements. Thus, if the extra
cost is justified, the general purpose processor GPP core can be enforced with
instruction level coprocessors, coarse grain dedicated hardware, ad hoc
memories or new GPP cores. In this way the final design solution is tailored to
the application requirements. The proposed approach is based on three main
steps: the first one is the analysis of the targeted application using
efficient metrics. The second step is the selection of the appropriate
architecture template according to the first step results and recommendations.
The third step is the architecture generation. This approach is experimented
using various image and video algorithms showing its feasibility
Semi-automatic video object segmentation for multimedia applications
A semi-automatic video object segmentation tool is presented for segmenting both still pictures and image sequences. The approach comprises both automatic segmentation algorithms and manual user interaction. The still image segmentation component is comprised of a conventional spatial segmentation algorithm (Recursive Shortest Spanning Tree (RSST)), a hierarchical segmentation representation method (Binary Partition Tree (BPT)), and user interaction. An initial segmentation partition of homogeneous regions is created using RSST. The BPT technique is then used to merge these regions and hierarchically represent the segmentation in a binary tree. The semantic objects are then manually built by selectively clicking on image regions. A video object-tracking component enables image sequence segmentation, and this subsystem is based on motion estimation, spatial segmentation, object projection, region classification, and user interaction. The motion between the previous frame and the current frame is estimated, and the previous object is then projected onto the current partition. A region classification technique is used to determine which regions in the current partition belong to the projected object. User interaction is allowed for object re-initialisation when the segmentation results become inaccurate. The combination of all these components enables offline video sequence segmentation. The results presented on standard test sequences illustrate the potential use of this system for object-based coding and representation of multimedia
Steganographer Identification
Conventional steganalysis detects the presence of steganography within single
objects. In the real-world, we may face a complex scenario that one or some of
multiple users called actors are guilty of using steganography, which is
typically defined as the Steganographer Identification Problem (SIP). One might
use the conventional steganalysis algorithms to separate stego objects from
cover objects and then identify the guilty actors. However, the guilty actors
may be lost due to a number of false alarms. To deal with the SIP, most of the
state-of-the-arts use unsupervised learning based approaches. In their
solutions, each actor holds multiple digital objects, from which a set of
feature vectors can be extracted. The well-defined distances between these
feature sets are determined to measure the similarity between the corresponding
actors. By applying clustering or outlier detection, the most suspicious
actor(s) will be judged as the steganographer(s). Though the SIP needs further
study, the existing works have good ability to identify the steganographer(s)
when non-adaptive steganographic embedding was applied. In this chapter, we
will present foundational concepts and review advanced methodologies in SIP.
This chapter is self-contained and intended as a tutorial introducing the SIP
in the context of media steganography.Comment: A tutorial with 30 page
The contour tree image encoding technique and file format
The process of contourization is presented which converts a raster image into a discrete set of plateaux or contours. These contours can be grouped into a hierarchical structure, defining total spatial inclusion, called a contour tree. A contour coder has been developed which fully describes these contours in a compact and efficient manner and is the basis for an image compression method. Simplification of the contour tree has been undertaken by merging contour tree nodes thus lowering the contour tree's entropy. This can be exploited by the contour coder to increase the image compression ratio. By applying general and simple rules derived from physiological experiments on the human vision system, lossy image compression can be achieved which minimises noticeable artifacts in the simplified image. The contour merging technique offers a complementary lossy compression system to the QDCT (Quantised Discrete Cosine Transform). The artifacts introduced by the two methods are very different; QDCT produces a general blurring and adds extra highlights in the form of overshoots, whereas contour merging sharpens edges, reduces highlights and introduces a degree of false contouring. A format based on the contourization technique which caters for most image types is defined, called the contour tree image format. Image operations directly on this compressed format have been studied which for certain manipulations can offer significant operational speed increases over using a standard raster image format. A couple of examples of operations specific to the contour tree format are presented showing some of the features of the new format.Science and Engineering Research Counci
Multi-loop quality scalability based on high efficiency video coding
Scalable video coding performance largely depends on the underlying single layer coding efficiency. In this paper, the quality scalability capabilities are evaluated on a base of the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard under development. To enable the evaluation, a multi-loop codec has been designed using HEVC. Adaptive inter-layer prediction is realized by including the lower layer in the reference list of the enhancement layer. As a result, adaptive scalability on frame level and on prediction unit level is accomplished. Compared to single layer coding, 19.4% Bjontegaard Delta bitrate increase is measured over approximately a 30dB to 40dB PSNR range. When compared to simulcast, 20.6% bitrate reduction can be achieved. Under equivalent conditions, the presented technique achieves 43.8% bitrate reduction over Coarse Grain Scalability of the SVC - H.264/AVC-based standard
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