High quality document image compression with “DjVu”

Abstract

We present a new image compression technique called “DjVu” that is specifically geared towards the compression of high-resolution, high-quality images of scanned documents in color. This enables fast transmission of document images over low-speed connections, while faithfully reproducing the visual aspect of the document, including color, fonts, pictures, and paper texture. The DjVu compressor separates the text and drawings, which need a high spatial resolution, from the pictures and backgrounds, which are smoother and can be coded at a lower spatial resolution. Then, several novel techniques are used to maximize the compression ratio: the bi-level foreground image is encoded with AT&T’s proposal to the new JBIG2 fax standard, and a new wavelet-based compression method is used for the backgrounds and pictures. Both techniques use a new adaptive binary arithmetic coder called the ZP-coder. A typical magazine page in color at 300 dpi (dots per inch) can be compressed down to between 40 and 60 kbytes, approximately 5–10 times better than JPEG for a similar level of subjective quality. A real-time, memory efficient version of the decoder was implemented, and is available as a plug-in for popular web browsers. © 1998 SPIE and IS&T.