Efficient, low-complexity image compression using reversible integer wavelet transforms

The reversible integer wavelet transform (IWT) is widely used in signal and image compression. However, IWT has one main drawback. Using the IWT instead of the DWT degrades the performance of the lossy codecs. In this paper, an efficient and low-complexity image coding algorithm, the so-called subband scaling block-partitioning coding (SSBPC), is presented. The new algorithm presents two strategies, which are integer square threshold (IST) and multiple subband scaling (MSS). By using the new strategies, a full subband scaling coding scheme, using the integer square threshold and fast set partitioning, is proposed. Experimental results show that the new image compression method provides excellent lossy performance as well as supporting the many applications that require the ability to exactly recover the original image.