Divio, Inc.

Chia-Hung Chen

Kang-Huai Wang

Ren-Yuh Wang

Der-Ren Chu

Sophia Wei-Chun Kao

Tony Hung-Yao Wu

Wei-Chun Lee

An image compression apparatus for compressing image data provided to an input terminal and providing compressed data to an output terminal includes a 4&times;4 weighted digital cosine transformer (DCT) coupled to the input terminal and configured to convert the image data into weighted frequency data. A zigzag circuit is coupled to the DCT and configured to zigzag process the frequency data and generate create zigzag data. A Q-factor estimator is coupled to the DCT and configured to estimate the frequency data and generate a Q-factor. A DC coding circuit is coupled to the zigzag circuit and configured to code the zigzag data and generate a DC code. A quantization circuit is coupled to the zigzag circuit and the Q-factor estimator and configured to quantize the zigzag data based on the Q-factor and generate quantized data. A run-length coding circuit coupled to the DC coding circuit and the quantization circuit and configured to encode the quantized data to create variable length data as the compressed data to the output terminal. In this manner, the original image is compressed. While the invention is described with reference to specific hardware, the invention can also be implemented in software employing the functions as described herein. Advantages of the present invention include an image compression technique that is both fast and efficient. Additionally, the invention provides a fast and efficient image compression technique that can be applied to moving images.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Chia-Hung Chen