Patent ID: 7830966

Claim:
An image encoding device comprising: means of converting pixel values which reduces pixel value areas where visual detection of deterioration is difficult by applying a pixel value conversion table to an input image, and means of image encoding which encodes the image after pixel value conversion, wherein the means of image encoding comprises an image encoding device comprising: means of image encoding which encodes images in accordance with an irreversible compression method capable of processing input images in small region units, means of image decoding which decodes encoded data created with the means of encoding, means of characteristic pixel extraction which utilizes input images and decoded images obtained by the means of image decoding to extract characteristic pixels, means of calculating characteristic distortion which utilizes characteristic pixels to calculate characteristic distortion of the decoded images in relation to the input images, and means of parameter value control which controls parameter values determining the extent of data compression in the means of image encoding in accordance with the characteristic distortion.