| NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release |
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Contact: |
Jaime Saeger Marketing Director +1 (813) 875-7575 x320 marketing@jpg.com |
Pegasus Imaging Corporation 4001 N. Riverside Drive Tampa, FL 33603 USA www.pegasusimaging.com |
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PEGASUS IMAGING AWARDED PATENT FOR REDUCING JPEG COMPRESSION ARTIFACTS UPON DECOMPRESSION |
| TAMPA, FL, March 13, 2006 – Pegasus Imaging today announces a patent has been awarded to the company and two of its scientists. The patent covers a scientific approach in image decompression to reduce the blockiness and other objectionable artifacts in images caused by image compression. It is titled “Methods and Apparatus for Improving Quality of Block-Transform Coded Images.” “Block artifacts are probably the most annoying consequence of high levels of image compression by block-based image compression methods such as JPEG,” says Stephen A. Martucci, scientist at Pegasus Imaging and co-inventor of the patented technology. “Even at low levels of compression, when artifacts and distortions may not be visible to the human eye, they are still present in the reconstructed image and can cause problems when further processing is attempted. We’ve developed a method to significantly or completely remove these effects.” This patent recognizes unique technology that has contributed to the high quality decompression of Pegasus Imaging’s JPEG, found within the ImagXpress™ and PICTools™ software development kits (SDK’s). It reduces block-based coding artifacts in a way that is effective and computationally efficient. This innovative approach and others like it offer enhancements to Pegasus Imaging’s own JPEG libraries that exceed the quality of other implementations including standard open source JPEG solutions. Balancing speed with quality, the company strives to continually offer the best image enhancements in the most efficient ways. Pegasus remains as the only commercial supplier of JPEG compression and decompression libraries in the world. “We had two requirements to address while removing visible image compression artifacts. The first was to maintain a fast decompression speed to be practical for use in commercial applications. The second was to reduce the blocking artifacts with variable amounts of correction, depending on the amount of distortion each particular image contained,” says John Elton, chief scientist at Pegasus Imaging and co-inventor of the patented technology. “Our patent covers a novel deblocking and image improvement method that offers high decompression speed while maintaining image sharpness regardless of the severity or absence of artifacts.” The patented technology was developed by John Elton, Chief Scientist, and Stephen Martucci, Scientist at Pegasus Imaging. Since 1995, Dr. Elton has led Pegasus Imaging's staff of scientists in the research of new imaging technologies and optimizations, drawing on years of research in the field. Dr. Martucci drew on his knowledge and expertise of properties of discrete transforms and image compression technologies. He has contributed to Pegasus Imaging’s product enhancements since 2002. Pegasus Imaging holds a portfolio of 11 patents granted, 10 patents pending, and a large amount of internal intellectual property (IP) related to imaging. This advanced technology portfolio has been integrated into the company’s suite of products. Research is conducted on an ongoing basis within the company. More information on the company’s research and development of imaging technologies can be found at www.pegasusimaging.com/research.htm. Dr. Elton and Dr. Martucci’s bios can be found at www.pegasusimaging.com/bios.htm. |
| About Pegasus Imaging |
| Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Pegasus Imaging Corporation delivers digital imaging software development components, image compression and image editing technologies. The company exceeds speed and quality requirements for document imaging, forms processing, medical imaging, color/photo imaging, video applications and more. Technology is delivered as Microsoft .NET controls, COM controls, VCLs, DLLs and applications. Multiple platforms are supported, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, IBM AIX and Mac. Visit www.pegasusimaging.com for more information. |
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