Patent ID: 7738710

Claim:
A server-based, distributed networked-computer system for processing a compressed image file that describes an image that is grouped into blocks, where each block comprises a predetermined number of pixels, the system comprising: a tile server having a network interface for receiving at least one image from an image source and for sending an entirely compressed image to a client computer, wherein said tile server is configured to: create an entirely compressed image file from an image, wherein the entirely compressed image is grouped into blocks, where each block comprises a predetermined number of pixels, and wherein the tile server is further adapted to create one or more compressed image tiles comprising an image block with the predetermined number of pixels of the compressed image file, without fully decompressing the entirely compressed image file, the compressed image tile describing a portion of the image represented by said image block; and modify said pixels contained in said image block to eliminate intra-tile dependencies by scanning said pixels contained in said image block row by row; and a client computer having a network interface for receiving an entirely compressed image, wherein said client computer is configured to decompress the compressed image tile and display the portion of the image, without fully decompressing the entirely compressed image file.