A Consistent Quality Bit Rate Control for the Line-Based Compression

Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Advanced Driver Assistant System (ADAS) often have image transmission functions with tough constraints, like low power and/or low delay, which require that they adopt line-based, low memory compression methods instead of existing frame-based image compression standards. Bit rate control in the conventional frame-based compression systems requires a lot of hardware resources when the scope of handled data falls at the frame level. On the other hand, attempts to reduce the heavy hardware resource requirement by focusing on line-level processing yield uneven image quality through the frame. In this paper, we propose a bit rate control that maintains consistency in image quality through the frame and improves the legibility of text regions. To find the line characteristics, the proposed bit rate control tests each line for ease of compression and the existence of text. Experiments on the proposed bit rate control show peak signal-to-noise ratios (PSNRs) similar to those of conventional bit rate controls, but with the use of significantly fewer hardware resources.