What is Wavelet Compression?
The wavelet transform has been around about for some time, but has only recently been applied to image compression. It is now used within several file formats, but the best known is JPEG 2000 You’ll find a simple overview of compression techniques in the JISC Digital Media Advice document: File Formats and Compression. This current FAQ offers a fuller explanation of wavelet compression, whilst still trying to avoid using too much hard maths. The wavelet transform has been around about for some time, but has only recently been applied to image compression. It is now used within several file formats, but the best known is JPEG 2000. We’ll use JPEG 2000 as an example of wavelet compression, comparing it with the common JPEG/JFIF format, which uses an inferior, non-wavelet compression. Several of the fundamental differences between the common JPEG and JPEG 2000 are directly related to the different approaches they take to compression. These include the option of lossless compression in JPE
