Image Compression reduces the number of bits required to represent an image, and thereby allows image and video information to be stored more efficiently, or to be transmitted much faster from one place to another. Some compression methods degrade the quality of the image. This research involves designing compression methods which examine the content of an image in order to control or eliminate the degradation for some portions of the image. The intent is to increase the visual quality or scientific utility of the images. This work also involves the design of multiresolution methods for region-based image and video compression, and the development of novel methods for quality evaluation for such codes. Dividing an image into regions can allow a compression algorithm to employ different encoding strategies in different portions of the image, and can allow some regions to be represented at higher quality or finer resolution than others. Methods for segmentation, bit allocation, and code selection at different levels of resolution will be examined in the course of our investigations. The main objects of the education plan are to promote interactive and hands-on learning, to be highly accessible and supportive to students whom I advise, and to facilitate interdisciplinary as well as academic/industrial discourse.
