Texture-based image retrieval in wavelets compressed domain

We describe an algorithm designed to retrieve and index images directly in wavelets compressed domain. Starting from compressed codes produced by wavelets-based techniques (SPHIT), texture keys are constructed by analysis of a significance map, hence, image retrieval can be conducted based on their content. The primary targets of this work can be highlighted as: (a) to be able to extract image content information in native compressed domain, i.e. without decompressing the stored images to any extent, (b) to compensate for the content information loss introduced by the lossy compression scheme by localizing the information provided by the significance map. Extensive experiments are carried out on a database of over 1000 images. Our contribution to this area can be outlined as: (a) lower requirement for storage space as no content information need to be stored separately and (b) fast response times for queries in the database.