Patent ID: 8515187

Claim:
A method, performed by computational hardware operatively connected to memory, of compressing a block of pixels having associated pixel parameter values, comprising: determining a reference codeword as a representation of a reference pixel parameter value; determining a row slope codeword as a representation of a basic parameter slope for the rows of said block; determining a column slope codeword as a representation of a basic parameter slope for the columns of said block; generating, for a row or a column in said block and based on at least a portion of said pixel parameter values of said row or said column, a representation indicating pixel positions where a slope change occurs along said at least a portion of said row or said column; repeating said generating for at least a portion of said rows or said columns in said block; determining a mode codeword as a representation of a set of multiple slope correction patterns, each slope correction pattern comprising a specific, predefined representation indicating position-dependent slope correctors applicable along a row or column; determining, for said at least one row or column in said block, a pattern codeword as a representation of a slope correction pattern of said set based on said position-indicating representation generated for said row or said column; and storing a compressed pixel block in the memory, the compressed pixel block including the reference codeword, the row slope codeword, the column slope codeword, the mode codeword, and the pattern codeword.