This is the first comprehensive treatment of the theoretical aspects of the discrete cosine transform (DCT), which is being recommended by various standards organizations, such as the CCITT, ISO etc., as the primary compression tool in digital image coding. The main purpose of the book is to provide a complete source for the user of this signal processing tool, where both the basics and the applications are detailed. An extensive bibliography covers both the theory and applications of the DCT. The novice will find the book useful in its self-contained treatment of the theory of the DCT, the detailed description of various algorithms supported by computer programs and the range of possible applications, including codecs used for teleconferencing, videophone, progressive image transmission, and broadcast TV. The more advanced user will appreciate the extensive references. Tables describing ASIC VLSI chips for implementing DCT, and motion estimation and details on image compression boards are also provided.