Application of the embedded wavelet hierarchical image coder to very low bit rate image coding

The embedded wavelet hierarchical image coder is a simple and effective image compression algorithm, having the property that the bits in the bit stream are generated in order of importance, yielding a fully embedded code. An analysis of the algorithm is presented in which the embedded code is viewed as a sequence of binary decisions that distinguish an image from the 'null' image, i.e., the all-gray image. Thus the technique is similar in spirit to binary finite-precision representations of real numbers. An interesting application of very low-bit rate image coding, i.e., image database browsing, is discussed.<>