Patent ID: 7260265

Claim:
A method for transcoding compressed data for further compression while said compressed data remains in the transform domain including steps of entropy decoding said compressed data to form quantized transform coefficient values, reducing a dynamic range of said quantized transform coefficient values to form quantized transform coefficient values of reduced dynamic range, wherein some or all quantized transform coefficients at different zig-zag scan positions are reduced in dynamic range in different manners in addition to scaling, altering at least one value in a quantization table to form an altered quantization table having values based on range reduction of quantized coefficient values of reduced range at respective zig-zag scan order locations, entropy encoding said quantized transform coefficient values of reduced dynamic range to form further compressed data, transmitting or storing said further compressed data with said altered quantization table, preventing alteration of quantized transform coefficients at a zig-zag scan position based on the frequency of occurrence of non-zero quantized transform coefficients at said zig-zag scan position, and preventing alteration of the quantization value in said quantization table at said zig-zag scan position.