Lossy Compression of Scanned Map Images

An algorithm for lossy compression of scanned map images is proposed. The algorithm is based on color quantization, efficient statistical context tree modeling and arithmetic coding. The ratedistortion performance is evaluated on a set of scanned maps and compared to JPEG2000 lossy compression algorithm, and to ECW, which is a commercially available solution for compression of satellite and aerial images. The proposed algorithm outperforms these competitors in rate-distortion sense for the most part of the operational rate-distortion curve.