Image Data Pre-processing for Enhanced Compression
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current bitmap compression mechanisms are inefficient due to the high bandwidth consumption of bitmaps when transmitted over networks, especially with sophisticated graphical user interfaces and animation, as they often fail to recognize patterns in interleaved color channel data, leading to suboptimal compression ratios.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves pre-processing image data by separating color channels into planar data sources to expose recognizable patterns and sequences, allowing for more efficient compression by standard or pattern-based data compression modules, and optionally converting color spaces to perceptually lossless formats like YUV or YCoCg to enhance compression ratios.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If color channels are transmitted in interleaved format, then image display is straightforward, but compression efficiency is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the interleaved color channel data into separate planar data sources, where each color channel (Red, Green, Blue, Alpha) is separated into its own independent plane. This segmentation allows each channel to be compressed independently, exposing recognizable patterns within each channel that standard compressors can efficiently process, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of processing and compression efficiency.
2Measurement precision
If full bitmaps are transmitted, then image quality is maintained, but bandwidth consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the bitmap into separate color channel planes and compressing each independently, the system achieves high compression ratios (up to 2:1 or better) while maintaining image quality. The planar separation allows patterns within each channel to be recognized and compressed efficiently, reducing bandwidth requirements without sacrificing measurement precision of the image data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the data organization parameter from interleaved channel format to planar channel format. This parameter change enables standard compression algorithms to recognize patterns more effectively, achieving superior compression ratios that reduce bandwidth consumption while preserving image quality through lossless or near-lossless compression of each channel.
3Productivity
If color channels are compressed independently, then compression ratio improves, but data organization complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by reorganizing the color channel data into planar format before compression. This pre-processing step separates the channels into distinct planes, making patterns recognizable to compression algorithms. The preliminary organization simplifies the compression process itself, as standard compressors can then operate on each channel independently without complex data manipulation during compression.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments herein provide for a pre-processing stage or mechanism for enhancing data compression of an image by splitting or separating the color channels for pixels into planar data sources. Typically, image data is displayed as an interleaved set of channel types for a color space such that each pixel within an image (such as a bitmap) has one component for each color channel. By separating the interleaved bitmap into a planar representation, each plane can be compressed independently and often times achieve higher compression ratios. This is especially true for channels that are expected to stay fairly constant throughout the bitmap most of the time. The utilization of the above embodiment can be further enhanced through manipulation of channel data or through converting the color space from one form to another.