Patent ID: 7099513

Claim:
A process for allocating bits for a multi-stage digital image compression such that image quality is optimized subject to a constraint on maximum bit allowance, said process comprising: a) calculating a distortion term and a bit demand measure associated with each of a finite number of possible quantization scales for each stage of the image compression; b) selecting a combination of quantization scales for all stages that minimizes total distortion subject to a constraint on maximum bit demand; c) allocating to a first stage of compression a number of bits required to quantize the first stage with the quantization scale selected for the first stage, and updating the constraint on maximum bit demand by subtracting off the bit demand associated with the quantized first stage; and d) recalculating the distortion terms and the bit demand measures associated with each of the finite number of possible quantization scales for each remaining stage of the image compression in light of the quantization of a previous stage, wherein the image compression includes pyramidal image decomposition and wherein the stages of compression comprise encoding the various bands of an image pyramid.