Browsing JPEG images using MPEG hardware chips
First Claim
1. A method for improving decoding throughput of compressed image data, said method comprising steps ofpartially decompressing said compressed image data to form partially decompressed data in an intermediate code, said compressed image data being incompatible with a hardware image decoder,recompressing said intermediate code in accordance with a compressed format compatible with said hardware image decoder forming recompressed image data, said recompressing step being performed in a lossy manner, anddecoding said recompressed image data with a said hardware image decoder, whereby software processing for decoding of said compressed image data is reduced by hardware decoding of said recompressed image data.
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Abstract
Rapid throughput of still image compressed data (e.g. JPEG) is achieved for presentation of images in rapid succession for browsing or browsing by panning within large images by using a hardware decoder adapted for presentation of moving images to reduce the processing load which must be performed in accordance with software although the still image data is incompatible with still image data in many respects; some of which necessarily lead to a loss of image fidelity. The still image data is partially decoded (e.g. entropy decoded) in software processing and re-encoded and reformatted to a form which can at least be accepted by the hardware decoder even though not compliant with any particular moving picture data standard (e.g. MPEG). Storage in the hardware decoder is reallocated to provide, in combination with a reduction of slower software processing, a throughput increase of four-fold or more. Software processing of the still image data is also allowed to proceed and the result substituted for the result of the hardware decoding if a given image is viewed for a time sufficient for the software image processing to be completed.
26 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for improving decoding throughput of compressed image data, said method comprising steps of
partially decompressing said compressed image data to form partially decompressed data in an intermediate code, said compressed image data being incompatible with a hardware image decoder, recompressing said intermediate code in accordance with a compressed format compatible with said hardware image decoder forming recompressed image data, said recompressing step being performed in a lossy manner, and decoding said recompressed image data with a said hardware image decoder, whereby software processing for decoding of said compressed image data is reduced by hardware decoding of said recompressed image data.
Specification