One of the major challenges related to image registration is the estimation of large motions without prior knowledge. This paper presents a Fourier-based approach that estimates large translations, scalings, and rotations. The algorithm uses the pseudopolar (PP) Fourier transform to achieve substantial improved approximations of the polar and log-polar Fourier transforms of an image. Thus, rotations and scalings are reduced to translations which are estimated using phase correlation. By utilizing the PP grid, we increase the performance (accuracy, speed, and robustness) of the registration algorithms. Scales up to 4 and arbitrary rotation angles can be robustly recovered, compared to a maximum scaling of 2 recovered by state-of-the-art algorithms. The algorithm only utilizes one-dimensional fast Fourier transform computations whose overall complexity is significantly lower than prior works. Experimental results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithms.

In this work the use of blending-function methods for the reduction of blocking effect is presented. An important aspect of our method is the novel approach for blocking effect definition. The image is deblocked by subtracting from every block an interpolatory surface canceling precisely prescribed curves, related to discontinuities on the boundaries between adjacent blocks. Two extensions which adapt themselves to the nature of the block and human visual perception are proposed. A new adaptive quantization constraint set is defined. Experimental results show that the proposed approach provides better performance as compared to several of the best known methods in both objective and subjective image quality. The proposed algorithms are applicable to color images.

Schemes for image compression of black-and-white images based on the wavelet transform are presented. The multiresolution nature of the discrete wavelet transform is proven as a powerful tool to represent images decomposed along the vertical and horizontal directions using the pyramidal multiresolution scheme. The wavelet transform decomposes the image into a set of subimages called shapes with different resolutions corresponding to different frequency bands. Hence, different allocations are tested, assuming that details at high resolution and diagonal directions are less visible to the human eye. The resultant coefficients are vector quantized (VQ) using the LGB algorithm. By using an error correction method that approximates the reconstructed coefficients quantization error, we minimize distortion for a given compression rate at low computational cost. Several compression techniques are tested. In the first experiment, several 512x512 images are trained together and common table codes created. Using these tables, the training sequence black-and-white images achieve a compression ratio of 60-65 and a PSNR of 30-33. To investigate the compression on images not part of the training set, many 480x480 images of uncalibrated faces are trained together and yield global tables code. Images of faces outside the training set are compressed and reconstructed using the resulting tables. The compression ratio is 40; PSNRs are 30-36. Images from the training set have similar compression values and quality. Finally, another compression method based on the end vector bit allocation is examined.