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Error-bounded lossy compression of floating-point color buffers using quadtree decomposition

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Abstract

In this paper, we present a new color buffer compression algorithm for floating-point buffers. It can operate in either an approximate (lossy) mode or in an exact (lossless) mode. The approximate mode is error-bounded and the amount of introduced accumulated error is controlled via a few parameters. The core of the algorithm lies in an efficient representation and color space transform, followed by a hierarchical quadtree decomposition, and then hierarchical prediction and Golomb–Rice encoding. We believe this is the first lossy compression algorithm for floating-point buffers, and our results indicate significantly reduced color buffer bandwidths and negligible visible artifacts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Lund University and Ericsson AB, Lund, Sweden

    Jim Rasmusson

  2. Ericsson AB, Stockholm, Sweden

    Jacob Ström

  3. Department of Computer Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Tomas Akenine-Möller

Authors
  1. Jim Rasmusson
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  2. Jacob Ström
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  3. Tomas Akenine-Möller
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Correspondence to Jim Rasmusson.

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Rasmusson, J., Ström, J. & Akenine-Möller, T. Error-bounded lossy compression of floating-point color buffers using quadtree decomposition. Vis Comput 26, 17–30 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-009-0372-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-009-0372-y

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