Image coding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, image processing apparatus and methods thereof

An image decoding apparatus comprising:

• an acquisition unit operable to acquire a bit stream and additional information which indicates a first still image;
• an image acquisition unit operable to acquire a second still image indicated in the additional information;
• and
• a decoding unit operable to generate a predictive image for the first image using the second still image as a reference image, and to add a prediction residual obtained from the bit stream indicating the first image and the predictive image to obtain the first still image.

An image coding method comprising steps of:

• searching at least one second still image which is similar to a first still image from a group of images;
• generating a predictive image for the first still image using the at least one second still image as a reference image;
• coding, by generating a bit stream by coding a difference between the first still image and the predictive image;
• and
• adding, to the bit stream, information which indicates a location of the at least one second still image.

An image decoding method comprising steps of:

• acquiring a bit stream and additional information which indicates a first still image;
• acquiring a second still image indicated in the additional information;
• generating a predictive image for the first image using the second still image as a reference image;
• and
• adding prediction residual obtained from the bit stream indicating the first image and the predictive image to obtain the first still image.

A semiconductor device comprising:

• a search unit operable to search at least one second still image which is similar to a first still image from a group of images;
• a coding unit operable to generate a predictive image for the first still image using the at least one second still image as a reference image and to generate a bit stream by coding a difference between the first still image and the predictive image;
• and
• an addition unit operable to add, to the bit stream, information which indicates a location of the at least one second still image.

A semiconductor device comprising:

• an acquisition unit operable to acquire a bit stream and additional information which indicates a first still image;
• an image acquisition unit operable to acquire a second still image indicated in the additional information;
• and
• a decoding unit operable to generate a predictive image for the first image using the second still image as a reference image, and to output the first still image by adding a prediction residual obtained from the bit stream indicating the first image and the predictive image.

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a search unit operable to search at least one second still image which is similar to a first still image from a group of images;
• a designation unit operable to designate a first area in the first still image;
• a specifying unit operable to specify a second area in the second still image corresponding to the first area;
• and
• a completion unit operable to remove pixels in the first area and complete the removed first area with the pixels in the second area.