Novel Scheme for Object-based Embedded Image Coding

Conventional EBCOT algorithm encodes an image with the same block-based coding strategy and it is difficult to acquire perceptually consistent results in practical applications. This paper presents a new scheme for object-based embedded coding aiming to enhance the flexibility and the coding efficiency. In our scheme, an original image is firstly segmented into objects, which are taken as basic coding units and are encoded independently. Then the compressed streams of all objects are further truncated and reassembled based on rate-distortion optimization principle according to given bit-rate. In our scheme, each object can be encoded independently with different strategy according to its visual interest at the encoder. At the decoder, it can be decoded and reconstructed independently and progressively. As a whole, the new scheme is more flexible and may enhance the overall subjective quality of reconstructed images. Experiments are conducted and the results show the proposed scheme can implement object-based image coding and rate control effectively.