Low Cost Video Compression Using Fast, Modified Z-Coding of Wavelet Pyramids

This paper describes a fast, low-complexity, entropy efficient video coder for wavelet pyramids. This coder approaches the entropy-limited coding rate of video wavelet pyramids, is fast in both hardware and software implementations, and has low complexity (no multiplies) for use in ASICs. It consists of a modified Z-coder used to code the zero/non-zero significance function and Huffman coding for the non-zero coefficients themselves. Adaptation is not required. There is a strong speed-memory trade-off for the Huffman tables allowing the coder to be customized to a variety of platform parameters.