Optimization of the SW algorithm for high-dimensional compression

This paper describes an algorithm and a software package SW (Spherical Wavelets) that implements a method for compression of scalar functions defined on 3D objects. This method combines discrete second generation wavelet transforms with an extension of the embedded zerotree coding method. We present some results on optimizing the performance of the SW algorithm via the use of arithmetic coding, different scaling and norms of the wavelet coefficients. We describe an extension of the SW algorithm using different prediction schemes in the zerotree mechanism. The combined use of those techniques leads to a significant improvement of the compression performance of SW.