Showing papers by "Michael G. Strintzis published in 2002"

Blocking artifact detection and reduction in compressed data

Abstract: A novel frequency-domain technique for image blocking artifact detection and reduction is presented. The algorithm first detects the regions of the image which present visible blocking artifacts. This detection is performed in the frequency domain and uses the estimated relative quantization error calculated when the discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients are modeled by a Laplacian probability function. Then, for each block affected by blocking artifacts, its DC and AC coefficients are recalculated for artifact reduction. To achieve this, a closed-form representation of the optimal correction of the DCT coefficients is produced by minimizing a novel enhanced form of the mean squared difference of slope for every frequency separately. This correction of each DCT coefficient depends on the eight neighboring coefficients in the subband-like representation of the DCT transform and is constrained by the quantization upper and lower bound. Experimental results illustrating the performance of the proposed method are presented and evaluated.

A family of wavelet-based stereo image coders

Abstract: We propose novel algorithms for stereoscopic image coding based on the hierarchical decomposition of stereo information. The proposed schemes, based on the wavelet transform and zerotree quantization, are endowed with excellent progressive transmission capability and retain the option for perfect reconstruction of the original image pair. Experimental evaluation shows that the resulting methods produce superior results when compared with other algorithms for stereo image coding. This is achieved without introducing blocking artifacts and with the valuable additional convenience of the production of embedded bitstreams.

Segmentation and content-based watermarking for color image and image region indexing and retrieval

Abstract: An entirely novel approach to image indexing is presented using content-based watermarking. The proposed system uses color-image segmentation and watermarking in order to facilitate content-based indexing, retrieval and manipulation of digital images and image regions. A novel segmentation algorithm is applied on reduced images and the resulting segmentation mask is embedded in the image using watermarking techniques. In each region of the image, indexing information is additionally embedded. In this way, the proposed system is endowed with content-based access and indexing capabilities which can be easily exploited via a simple watermark detection process. Several experiments have shown the potential of this approach.

FAP extraction using three-dimensional motion estimation

Abstract: An integral part of the MPEG-4 standard is the definition of face animation parameters (FAPs). This paper presents a method for the determination of FAPs by using three dimensional (3-D) rigid and nonrigid motion of human facial features found from two-dimensional (2-D) image sequences. The proposed method assumes that a 3-D model has been fitted to the first frame of the sequence, tracks the motion of characteristic facial features, calculates the 3-D rigid and nonrigid motion of facial features, and through this, estimates the FAPs as defined by the MPEG-4 coding standard. The 2-D tracking process is based on a novel enhanced version of the algorithm proposed by Kanade, Lucas, and Tomasi (1994, 1991). The nonrigid motion estimation is achieved using the same tracking mechanism guided by the facial motion model implied by the MPEG-4 FAPs.

Three-dimensional facial adaptation for MPEG-4 talking heads

Abstract: This paper studies a new method for three-dimensional (3D) facial model adaptation and its integration into a text-to-speech (TTS) system. The 3D facial adaptation requires a set of two orthogonal views of the user's face with a number of feature points located on both views. Based on the correspondences of the feature points' positions, a generic face model is deformed nonrigidly treating every facial part as a separate entity. A cylindrical texture map is then built from the two image views. The generated head models are compared to corresponding models obtained by the commonly used adaptation method that utilizes 3D radial bases functions. The generated 3D models are integrated into a talking head system, which consists of two distinct parts: a multilingual text-to-speech sub-system and an MPEG-4 compliant facial animation sub-system. Support for the Greek language has been added, while preserving lip and speech synchronization.

Combined frequency and spatial domain algorithm for the removal of blocking artifacts

Abstract: A novel combined frequency and spatial domain method is presented in this paper for blockiness reduction for low bit rate compressed images. The method consists of two stages: in the first, better estimates of the reconstructed DCT coefficients are obtained based on their observed probability distribution. In the second, an efficient postprocessing scheme consisting of a region classification algorithm and a spatial adaptive filtering is applied for blockiness removal. The type of filtering is decided on the basis of an estimation of the local characteristics of the coded image. The main advantage of the proposed method is the efficient combination and design of these two stages which are acting complementarily for the reduction of blocking artifacts. This approach is shown to produce excellent results in removing blocking artifacts. The efficient performance of the proposed algorithm is due, firstly, to the proposition that the shape and the position of the filter kernel are adjusted according to the characteristics of the local image region and secondly, to the employment of the modified improved DCT coefficients by the postprocessing filter. Experimental results illustrating the performance of the proposed method are presented and evaluated.

Fast MPEG watermarking for copyright protection

Abstract: In this paper, a new technique for watermarking of MPEG compressed video streams is proposed. The watermarking scheme operates directly in the domain of MPEG multiplexed streams. Perceptual models are used during the embedding process in order to preserve the quality of the video. The watermark is embedded in the compressed domain and is detected without the use of the original video sequence. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed scheme is able to withstand a variety of attacks. The resulting watermarking system is very fast and reliable, and is suitable for copyright protection and real-time content authentication applications.

A Bayesian approach for segmentation in stereo image sequences

Abstract: Stereoscopic image sequence processing has been the focus of considerable attention in recent literature for videoconference applications. A novel Bayesian scheme is proposed in this paper, for the segmentation of a noisy stereoscopic image sequence. More specifically, occlusions and visible foreground and background regions are detected between the left and the right frame while the uncovered-background areas are identified between two successive frames of the sequence. Combined hypotheses are used for the formulation of the Bayes decision rule which employs a single intensity-difference measurement at each pixel. Experimental results illustrating the performance of the proposed technique are presented and evaluated in videoconference applications.

Fast MPEG watermarking for copyright protection

Abstract: In this paper, a new technique for watermarking of MPEG compressed video streams is proposed. The watermarking scheme operates directly in the domain of MPEG multiplexed streams. Perceptual models are used during the embedding process in order to preserve the quality of the video. The watermark is embedded in the compressed domain and is detected without the use of the original video sequence. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed scheme is able to withstand a variety of attacks. The resulting watermarking system is very fast and reliable, and is suitable for copyright protection and real-time content authentication applications.

Error-resilient coding and Forward Error Correction for image transmission over unreliable channels

Abstract: An error-resilient coding scheme is proposed for the transmission of images over unreliable channels. Forward Error Correction is used in conjunction with the error-resilient source coder for the protection of the compressed stream. Unlike almost all other robust coding schemes presented to-date, the proposed scheme is able to decode portions of the bitstream even after the occurrence of uncorrectable errors. The resulting coder will be shown to be very efficient for image transmission over noisy channels.