Efficient edge-directed deblocking algorithm for KOMPSAT-2 satellite images

Abstract

In this paper, we present a deblocking algorithm that removes grid and staircase artefacts, which result from the compression of images. The KORea Multi-Purpose SATellite-2 images are efficiently compressed using an algorithm that assigns quantisation coefficients, by rows, according to local region complexity, in such a way that more complicated regions are more compressed. However, this approach is problematic in that it produces blocking artefacts in those relatively less complicated areas within the same row as the complicated regions. Removing these artefacts with a general deblocking algorithm can, undesirably, blur the complicated regions as well as the artefacts; additionally, the general filter is poor at preserving curved edges. Therefore, the algorithm proposed herein presents an adaptive filtering scheme for removing blocking artefacts while preserving image details, including curved edges, using a content analysis. Particularly, edge adaptive filtering has been introduced to remove staircase artefacts around the big image edges. Experimental analyses revealed that the proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches in terms of subjective or objective image quality, and computational speed.

Keywords:

• Deblocking
• Satellite
• Compression
• Hessian matrix

Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), and by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (2009-0068833, 2011-003496/0015901).