Apparatus, and associated method, for altering the resolution of a digital image

In a method for operating upon a block-based digital image that exhibits an initial resolution, the block-based digital image defining at least a first block of a first dimension, an improvement of a method for selectively reducing the initial resolution exhibited by the block-based digital image to a first-reduced resolution, aid method comprising:

• scaling indications of each block that together define the block-based digital image to form a first scaled variant representation of each block of the block-based digital image;
• combining the scaled variant representation of each block together to form a combined representation of the scaled variant representation of each block of the block-based digital image;
• and
• reducing the combined representation in size to a reduced-size representation of the combined representation, the reduced-size representation of the first-reduced resolution.

In a device for operating upon a block-based digital image that exhibits an initial resolution, the block-based digital image defining at least a first block of a first dimension, the at least the first block formed pursuant to a first-sized discrete cosine transform, an improvement of apparatus for selectively reducing the initial resolution exhibited by the block-based digital image to a first-reduced resolution, said apparatus comprising:

• a prescaler coupled to receive indications of each block that together define the block-based digital image, said prescaler for scaling the indications of each block of the block-based digital image to form a first scaled variant representation of each block of the block-based digital image;
• a combiner coupled to receive the scaled variant representative of each block of the block-based digital image, said combiner for combining the scaled variant representation of each block together to form a combined representation of the scaled variant representation of each block of the block-based digital image;
• and
• a reducer coupled to receive the combined representation formed by said combiner, said reducer for reducing the combined representation in resolution to a reduced-resolution representation of the combined representation of the first-reduced resolution, the reduced-resolution matrix formed pursuant to a second-sized discrete cosine transform, the second-sized discrete cosine transform of a size different than the first-sized discrete cosine transform.

In a device for operating upon a block-based digital image that exhibits an initial resolution, the block-based digital image defining at least a first block of a first dimension, an improvement of apparatus for selectively reducing the initial resolution exhibited by the block-based digital image to a first-reduced resolution, said apparatus comprising:

• a prescaler coupled to receive indications of each block that together define the block-based digital image, said prescaler for scaling the indications of each block of the block-based digital image to form a first scaled variant representation of each block of the block-based digital image;
• a combiner coupled to receive the scaled variant representative of each block of the block-based digital image, said combiner for combining the scaled variant representation of each block together to form a combined representation of the scaled variant representation of each block of the block-based digital image, the combined representation exhibiting a first selected number of coefficients;
• and
• a reducer coupled to receive the combined representation formed by said combiner, said reducer for reducing the combined representation in resolution to a reduced-resolution representation of the combined representation of the first-reduced resolution, the reduced utilizing a reduction matrix that exhibits a second selected number of coefficients, the second selected number less than the first selected number.