Correlation properties of quantization noise

This paper examines the correlation properties of quantization noise. The quantization noise energy is subtractive if the quantizer output levels are optimized for the probability density of the input signal (pdf optimized). This paper gives a new result that shows that a quantizer (uniform or not) which has quantizer break points midway between output levels (a minimum distance quantizer) and is scaled to minimize the mean-square error, also has this property. Examples are shown that show the correlation properties which determine whether the quantization noise energy is subtractive or additive. This paper also considers a postfilter configuration that compensates for the quantization noise. The postfilter frequency domain gains take the correlation properties of the quantization noise into account. An experiment on reducing the effect of quantization noise in speech gives an indication that taking account of the correlation is useful.