Method for estimating the flow and distortion of coded image data subsequent to the encoding

A method for estimating the flow rate and the distortion of at least a compressed image using at least one wavelet transform operation delivering at least one subband b containing coefficients, said sub-band being subdivided into at least one package (106) of coefficients, said package (106) further including a header (101,102,103,104,107) packet and are transmitted through a propagation channel, said method being characterized in that it comprises at least the following steps : o a step of estimating the distortion D due to compression of the coefficients of said package (106), o a step of estimating the distortion D linked to corruption or loss of said package (106), o a step estimation of the compression rate L, where one step of estimating the D sensitivity of said package (106) according to D and D and the flow rate L, o a step of estimating distortion of said image related to the decompression of said package (106) from D.