Discrete Cosine Transform

By Rohit Tripathi
DFT Problems
It is complex because it uses complex
computations.
It has poor energy compaction.
Note: Energy compaction -This means
that the energy in the spatial or image
domain , is typically concentrated in a
smaller number of coefficients.
If compaction is high, we have to
transmit only a few coefficients.
DCT
It overcomes the problems of DFT.
Its coefficients are real because it uses
real computations.This makes DCT
hardware simpler as compared to DFT.
It has high energy compaction capability
because its coefficient values are low that
can be encoded at very low bit rates
without degrading the image quality
significantly.
It can be computed using DFT or FFT also.
Types of DCT
There are various versions of the
DCT.
These are usually known as DCT-I
to DCT-IV.
The most popular is the DCT-II, also
known as even symmetric DCT, or
as the DCT.
Applications
The DCT is the basis of the image-
compression standard issued by the
Joint Photographic Experts Group
(JPEG).
The DCT is also used in the MPEG
(Moving Picture Experts
Group)standard for video compression
and in many streaming video players.
 1D DCT
For an array of N data items,1D DCT
is defined by:

and the corresponding inverse 1D

DCT transform is
2D DCT
For a 2D M by N array image 2D DCT
is defined :
2D DCT cont.
The corresponding inverse 2D DCT transform is:

The transformed array X(k,l) obtained through the DCT

equation is also of the same size M x N, same as that of
the original image block x(m,n). It should be noted here
that the transform-domain indices k and l indicate the
spatial frequencies in the directions of m and n
respectively.
The DCT transform operates on this block in a left-to- right,
top-to-bottom manner.
2D DCT cont.
Selection of block-size in DCT is an important
consideration.
The images should be divided in a manner
that the level of redundancies between the
adjacent pixels are reduced to an acceptable
level.
Increasing the block size reduces adjacent
pixel redundancies and reduces
reconstruction error, but involves more
computations.
Most popular block sizes used in image
compression are 8 x 8 pixels and 16 x 16
pixels.
2D DCT cont.
2D DCT can be computed using 1D DCT with the
row-column decomposition (No need to apply 2D
form directly):
apply 1D DCT (Vertically) to Columns
apply 1D DCT (Horizontally) to resultant
Vertical DCT above.
or alternatively Horizontal to Vertical.
Ex 1.Consider an 8x8 block from a standard black
and white image, whose pixel intensities are shown
in Fig. below

We subtract 128 from each pixel intensity and

then compute the DCT for each element using
DCT.
 The DCT values are shown below

It is worth noting that most of the transformed

coefficients have very small values and only a few
coefficients have higher magnitudes. This shows
the energy compaction capabilities of DCT.
Q.Why do level offsetting (subtracting by
128) is done on the pixel values before
applying DCT on the image?
Ans.
In JPEG process, pixel value of a black and
white image range from 0 to 255 in steps of 1.
Pure black is represented by 0.
Pure white is represented by 255.
Before computing DCT, the value 128 is
subtracted from each entry to produce a data
range that is centered around zero, so that
the modified range is [-128, 127].
This step reduces reduces average DC value
of DCT coefficents.
DCT is designed to work on pixel values
ranging from -128 to 127.
Ex 2. Consider an example of Figure 1, shows the
2D DCT for an 8 x 8 image matrix of pixels . Note
that the lowest DCT coefficient is in upper left-hand
corner while the highest DCT coefficient is in lower
right-hand corner.

Figure 1
Figure 1 (a)1(d) shows the progression
of image quality, as the lowest 1, 3, 6,
and 21 DCT coefficients are included in
the reconstructed image. Note that
even with 1 DCT coefficient, the image
is recognizable, and the image with 21
reconstructed coefficients is virtually
indistinguishable from the original
image [Figure 1(e)].
Figure 1(a) with only one DCT coefficient
Figure 1(b) with 1st 3 DCT coefficients
Figure 1(c) with 1st 6 DCT coefficients
 Figure 1(d) with 1st 21 DCT
coefficients
Original Mandrill image
Limitation of DCT
Limitation of DCT:
Serious blocking artifacts are introduced
at the pixel boundaries
Note: Blocking artifacts
DCT involves discarding some of the media's
data so that it becomes simplified enough to
be stored within the desireddisk space or be
transmitted within the bandwidth limitations
(known as a data rate orbit rate).
If the compressed file could not reproduce
enough data on decompression to reproduce
the original, the result is a degraded quality
media or introduction of artifacts.
Limitation of DCT

Blocking artifact is the most

serious and objectionable at low
bit rates.
Blocking artifacts may be
reduced by applying transforms
like the Lapped Orthogonal
Transform (LOT) or Discrete
Wavelet Transforms (DWT)(not in
our syllabus).
Questions
Q1. Which of the following statements is
wrong
(A) An N-point DCT has N-periodicity.
(B) DCT involves real computations only.
(C) Forward and inverse DCT formulas are
same.
(D) DCT exhibits good energy compaction
capability.

Ans.(A)
2. DCT is applied on the following 2x2 pixel
array:

The DCT coefficients obtained from the above

array are

Ans.(C)
Q3.Determine 1D DCT of array
x(n)=[ 5 4 3 2]
Ans. X(k)=[7 2.23 0 0.16]

Q4. Determine 2D DCT of 4x4 array

0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0

Ans.
1 0 0 0
0 -1 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 -1
Q5.Determine 2D DCT of 2x2 array
0 1
1 0

Ans. 1 0
0 -1

Note: Here answer is opposite diagonal

matrix with alternate 1s and -1s.