Video Coding Using 3D Dual-Tree Wavelet Transform

This work investigates the use of the 3D dual-tree discrete wavelet transform (DDWT) for video coding. The 3D DDWT is an attractive video representation because it isolates image patterns with different spatial orientations and motion directions and speeds in separate subbands. However, it is an over complete transform with 4:1 redundancy when only real parts are used. We apply the noise-shaping algorithm proposed by Kingsbury to reduce the number of coefficients. To code the remaining significant coefficients, we propose two video codecs. The first one applies separate 3D set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) on each subset of the DDWT coefficients (each forming a standard isotropic tree). The second codec exploits the correlation between redundant subbands, and codes the subbands jointly. Both codecs do not require motion compensation and provide better performance than the 3D SPIHT codec using the standard DWT, both objectively and subjectively. Furthermore, both codecs provide full scalability in spatial, temporal, and quality dimensions. Besides the standard isotropic decomposition, we propose an anisotropic DDWT, which extends the superiority of the normal DDWT with more directional subbands without adding to the redundancy. This anisotropic structure requires significantly fewer coefficients to represent a video after noise shaping. Finally, we also explore the benefits of combining the 3D DDWT with the standard DWT to capture a wider set of orientations. EURASIP Journal on Image and Video Processing This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c ©Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., 2007 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139