Patent ID: 7209266

Claim:
An image processing apparatus including a compression section that compresses an image signal to first compression data; a first compression data conversion section that converts the first compression data, which is compressed by the compression section, to second compression data without complete decoding of the first compression data; and a second compression data conversion section that converts the second compression data, which is converted by the first compression data conversion section, to the first compression data without complete decoding of the second compression data, wherein the first compression data is fixed-length code data, and the second compression data is variable-length code data having a code amount equal to or less than a code amount of the first compression data, the compression section, in entropy encoding, provides an effective code marker at a terminal end of an effective code in units of a block, and compresses the first compression data to a predetermined code length in units of a block by using an effective code, an effective marker and an invalid code, the first compression data conversion section includes a first boundary search section that performs a pattern matching for the first compression data and searches for an effective code boundary of each block, and a boundary marker insertion section that removes the invalid code and inserts a block boundary marker, and the second compression data conversion section includes a second boundary search section that performs a pattern matching for the second compression data and searches for the block boundary marker, a code length determination section that determines whether a total code length of the effective code and the effective code marker is shorter than a predetermined code length, and an invalid code insertion section that inserts the invalid code when it is determined that the code length excluding the block boundary marker is shorter.