This talk examines two fundamental challenges in two areas, respectively, which have been intensively researched in the field of image processing and communications, i.e., digital picture coding/compression and digital picture (including both video and still images) restoration (or de-noising).  It reflects on historical developments and reviews the state-of-the-art in the area of digital picture coding.  Quantitative perceptual distortion measure based on the human visual system is identified as the weakest link in the current picture coding framework and remains a fundamental challenge in devising the next generation picture coding systems.  In the area of picture restoration, the paper takes a special interest in surveillance and security video/image de-noising task for forensic investigations.  Highlighting most recent advances and the inadequacies in existing image de-noising techniques, it focuses on a fundamental challenge in designing a unified picture de-noising framework, including noise modeling, for removal of analogue and digital surveillance video distortions.

About Hong Ren Wu
Hong Ren Wu received his BEng and MEng from University of Science and Technology, Beijing (formerly Beijing University of Iron and Steel Technology), China, in 1982 and 1985, respectively.  He received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wollongong.  After completing his PhD, he joined Chisholm Institute of Technology as a lecturer in 1990.  From 1990 to 2005, Dr Wu worked at Monash University where he was last an Associate Professor in School of Computer Science and Software of Engineering.  Since 2005, Dr Wu has been on academic staff as Professor of Visual Communications Engineering, and Discipline Head of Computer and Network Engineering, in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.  His current research interests include digital picture compression, image processing and enhancement, fast DSP algorithms, and industrial applications of DSP systems.  His most recent publications include the book, with co-editor Professor K.R. Rao of University of Texas at Arlington, Digital Video Image Quality and Perceptual Coding, CRC Press, 2006 (ISBN: 0-8247-2777-0).