A rate and distortion analysis of chain codes for line drawings

The performance of chain codes for line drawings in the framework of source coding with a fidelity criterion is investigated. A formal characterization is given for a broad class of chain codes that includes the generalized chain codes of Freeman and the convex quantizers of Koplowitz. Measures of distortion (fidelity) and rate (efficiency) are introduced. The distortion and rate are calculated for several types of chain codes applied to straight and slowly curving lines. Several statistical models for straight lines are introduced and the average performance of chain codes for these models is investigated.