Segmentation based image coding using fractals and the human visual system

A new segmentation-based image coding technique which performs segmentation based on roughness of textural regions and on properties of the human visual system (HVS) is presented. The image is segmented into texturally homogeneous region with respect to the degree of roughness as perceived by the HVS. The fractal dimension is used to measure the roughness of the textural regions. The segmentation is accomplished by thresholding the fractal dimension so that textural regions are classified into several classes. Three texture classes are chosen: perceived constant intensity, smooth texture, and rough texture. An image coding system with high compression and good image quality is achieved by developing an efficient coding technique for each texture class