Optimal image quantization, perception and the median cut algorithm

Abstract

We study the perceptual problem related to image quantization from an optimization point of view, using different metrics on the color space. A consequence of the results presented is that quantization using histogram equalization provides optimal perceptual results. This fact is well known and widely used but, to our knowledge, a proof has never appeared on the literature of image processing.

Keywords

• Image quantization
• color quantization
• optimization
• median cut
• information theory