LICA-CS: Efficient Lossless Image Compression Algorithm via Column Subtraction Model

Driven by the unprecedented amount of data generated in the last few decades, data storage and communication are becoming more challenging. Although many approaches in data compression have been developed to alleviate these challenges, more efforts are still needed, especially for lossless image compression, which is a promising technique when critical information loss is not allowed. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm called the Lossless Image Compression Algorithm using a Column Subtraction model (LICA-CS). LICA-CS is efficient, low in complexity, decreases the image bit-depth, and enhances state-of-the-art performance. LICA-CS first implements a color transformation method as a pre-processing phase, which strategically minimizes inter-channel correlations to optimize compression outcomes. After that, a novel subtraction method was developed to compress the image data column-wise. We tackle the similarity and proximity of pixel values within adjacent columns, which offers a distinct advantage in reducing image size observing a significant size reduction of 71%. This is achieved through the subtraction of neighboring columns. The conducted experiments on colored images show that LICA-CS outperforms existing algorithms in terms of compression rate. Moreover, our method exhibited remarkable enhancements in execution time, with compression and decompression processes averaging 1.93 seconds. LICA-CS advances the state-of-the-art in lossless image compression, promising enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in image compression technologies.