Advanced objective measurement criteria applied to image compression

This diploma thesis deals with the problem of using an objective quality assessment methods in image data compression. Lossy compression always introduces some kind of distortion into the processed data causing degradation in the quality of the image. The intensity of this distortion can be measured using subjective or objective methods. To be able to optimize compression algorithms the objective criteria are used. In this work the SSIM index as a useful tool for describing the quality of compressed images has been presented. Lossy compression scheme is realized using the wavelet transform and SPIHT algorithm. The modification of this algorithm using partitioning of the wavelet coefficients into the separate tree-preserving blocks followed by independent coding, which is especially suitable for parallel processing, was implemented. For the given compression ratio the traditional problem is being solved – how to allocate available bits among the spatial blocks to achieve the highest possible image quality. The possible approaches to achieve this solution were discussed. As a result, some methods for bit allocation based on MSSIM index were proposed. To test the effectivity of these methods the MATLAB environment was used