Quantum Approach to Image Data Encoding and Compression

High-resolution images are being generated due to the rapid development of image sensors. Various image processing algorithms require images of reduced sizes, given the computational constraints. Hence, preprocessing the images to reduce their size is crucial for many applications. This letter proposes a novel approach to compress images using quantum computing. A comparative study on different standard data encoding techniques used in quantum computing is undertaken. We propose four quantum compression techniques by extending the unitary operations of amplitude embedding for compressing images. The proposed methods provide exponential scaling as amplitude embedding is used, where
$2^{n}$
classical data values are encoded into
$n$
qubits. Compression performance, visual evaluation, and objective evaluation are carried out to assess the proposed compression techniques. Our experimental results show that the crucial patterns in images are retained in the compressed images even at 75% compression. The compressed images can be used for postprocessing tasks using classical or quantum computing algorithms.