Optimal bit allocation among dependent quantizers for the minimum maximum distortion criterion

In this paper we introduce an optimal bit allocation scheme for dependent quantizers for the minimum maximum distortion criterion. First we show how minimizing the bit rate for a given maximum distortion can be achieved in a dependent coding framework using dynamic programming (DP). Then we employ an iterative algorithm to minimize the maximum distortion for a given bit rate, which invokes the DP scheme. We prove that it converges to the optimal solution. Finally we present a comparison between the minimum total distortion criterion and the minimum maximum distortion criterion for the encoding of an H.263 Intra frame. In this comparison we also point out the similarities between the proposed minimum maximum distortion approach and the Lagrangian multiplier based minimum total distortion approach.