The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 22, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 06, 1996
Tomio Echigo, Yokohama, JP;
Junji Maeda, Tokyo-to, JP;
Jung-Kook Hong, Tokyo-to, JP;
Mikihiro Ioka, Tokyo-to, JP;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An encoding method is provided with which users can select picture quality and a quantity of data in multiple stages and with which an image of higher picture quality can be regenerated by scalable selection, i.e., by further adding data to compressed data that can be decoded. Image data is compressed using: means (62) for segmenting an original image into a plurality of object regions where each region pixels all correlate with one another and for determining a hierarchical structure of the object regions; means (63) for approximating each of the object regions with at least one polygonal surface so that errors of a intensity of luminance and chrominances in each the pixel are less than a predetermined threshold value; means (64) for obtaining residual images by subtracting the approximated image from the original image or by subtracting a decompressed image of a compressed nth-order residual image from the original nth-order residual image; means (65) for compressing the nth-order residual image (n.gtoreq.1) by encoding; means (66) for storing the approximated image and the coded nth-order residual image; and means (67) for decompressing the compressed nth-order residual image from the nth-order residual image.