Rate-distortion optimal boundary encoding using an area distortion measure

In this paper an optimal boundary encoding algorithm in the rate-distortion sense is proposed. Second-order B-spline curves are used to model object boundaries. An additive area distortion measure between the original boundary and its approximation is employed in the optimization process. The problem is formulated in a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) paradigm, and the shortest path solution is used to optimally select control point locations of the B-spline curve approximation based on the desired rate-distortion tradeoff.