State of the art in low bit rate image coding

There has been tremendous interest in low bit rate image coding over the past few years and a multitude of reports both in the general and technical literature about the technology and the impact it will have on business and the individual consumer. The paper provides an overview of directions for the future, particularly with regard to the development of standards. It is clear that there has been considerable interest in the use of photographic images, in a diverse range of applications, as digital technology advances and becomes more widely available. The proliferation of different approaches to image coding has created a number of challenges for the industry and the technology will look very different in the 21st century than it does today. The technology will have a significant impact on our lives in a similar way to the telephone and facsimile machines, and the way they have affected our lives today. For one thing, the sharp division between video processing, computers and document image processing will become blurred as the technology develops. One can already see the effects in the political debates taking place regarding the development of the high definition television (HDTV) standards