Specification for WebP Lossless Bitstream ========================================= _Jyrki Alakuijala, Ph.D., Google, Inc., 2012-06-19_ Paragraphs marked as \[AMENDED\] were amended on 2014-09-16. Paragraphs marked as \[AMENDED2\] were amended on 2022-05-13. Paragraphs marked as \[AMENDED3\] were amended on 2022-11-21. Abstract -------- WebP lossless is an image format for lossless compression of ARGB images. The lossless format stores and restores the pixel values exactly, including the color values for pixels whose alpha value is 0. The format uses subresolution images, recursively embedded into the format itself, for storing statistical data about the images, such as the used entropy codes, spatial predictors, color space conversion, and color table. LZ77, prefix coding, and a color cache are used for compression of the bulk data. Decoding speeds faster than PNG have been demonstrated, as well as 25% denser compression than can be achieved using today's PNG format. * TOC placeholder {:toc} 1 Introduction -------------- This document describes the compressed data representation of a WebP lossless image. It is intended as a detailed reference for the WebP lossless encoder and decoder implementation. In this document, we extensively use C programming language syntax to describe the bitstream, and assume the existence of a function for reading bits, `ReadBits(n)`. The bytes are read in the natural order of the stream containing them, and bits of each byte are read in least-significant-bit-first order. When multiple bits are read at the same time, the integer is constructed from the original data in the original order. The most significant bits of the returned integer are also the most significant bits of the original data. Thus, the statement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ b = ReadBits(2); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ is equivalent with the two statements below: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ b = ReadBits(1); b |= ReadBits(1) << 1; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We assume that each color component (e.g. alpha, red, blue and green) is represented using an 8-bit byte. We define the corresponding type as uint8. A whole ARGB pixel is represented by a type called uint32, an unsigned integer consisting of 32 bits. In the code showing the behavior of the transformations, alpha value is codified in bits 31..24, red in bits 23..16, green in bits 15..8 and blue in bits 7..0, but implementations of the format are free to use another representation internally. Broadly, a WebP lossless image contains header data, transform information and actual image data. Headers contain width and height of the image. A WebP lossless image can go through four different types of transformation before being entropy encoded. The transform information in the bitstream contains the data required to apply the respective inverse transforms. 2 Nomenclature -------------- ARGB : A pixel value consisting of alpha, red, green, and blue values. ARGB image : A two-dimensional array containing ARGB pixels. color cache : A small hash-addressed array to store recently used colors, to be able to recall them with shorter codes. color indexing image : A one-dimensional image of colors that can be indexed using a small integer (up to 256 within WebP lossless). color transform image : A two-dimensional subresolution image containing data about correlations of color components. distance mapping : Changes LZ77 distances to have the smallest values for pixels in 2D proximity. entropy image : A two-dimensional subresolution image indicating which entropy coding should be used in a respective square in the image, i.e., each pixel is a meta prefix code. prefix code : A classic way to do entropy coding where a smaller number of bits are used for more frequent codes. LZ77 : Dictionary-based sliding window compression algorithm that either emits symbols or describes them as sequences of past symbols. meta prefix code : A small integer (up to 16 bits) that indexes an element in the meta prefix table. predictor image : A two-dimensional subresolution image indicating which spatial predictor is used for a particular square in the image. prefix coding : A way to entropy code larger integers that codes a few bits of the integer using an entropy code and codifies the remaining bits raw. This allows for the descriptions of the entropy codes to remain relatively small even when the range of symbols is large. scan-line order : A processing order of pixels, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, starting from the left-hand-top pixel, proceeding to the right. Once a row is completed, continue from the left-hand column of the next row. 3 RIFF Header ------------- The beginning of the header has the RIFF container. This consists of the following 21 bytes: 1. String "RIFF" 2. A little-endian 32 bit value of the block length, the whole size of the block controlled by the RIFF header. Normally this equals the payload size (file size minus 8 bytes: 4 bytes for the 'RIFF' identifier and 4 bytes for storing the value itself). 3. String "WEBP" (RIFF container name). 4. String "VP8L" (chunk tag for lossless encoded image data). 5. A little-endian 32-bit value of the number of bytes in the lossless stream. 6. One byte signature 0x2f. The first 28 bits of the bitstream specify the width and height of the image. Width and height are decoded as 14-bit integers as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int image_width = ReadBits(14) + 1; int image_height = ReadBits(14) + 1; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 14-bit dynamics for image size limit the maximum size of a WebP lossless image to 16384✕16384 pixels. The alpha_is_used bit is a hint only, and should not impact decoding. It should be set to 0 when all alpha values are 255 in the picture, and 1 otherwise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int alpha_is_used = ReadBits(1); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The version_number is a 3 bit code that must be set to 0. Any other value should be treated as an error. \[AMENDED\] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int version_number = ReadBits(3); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4 Transformations ----------------- Transformations are reversible manipulations of the image data that can reduce the remaining symbolic entropy by modeling spatial and color correlations. Transformations can make the final compression more dense. An image can go through four types of transformation. A 1 bit indicates the presence of a transform. Each transform is allowed to be used only once. The transformations are used only for the main level ARGB image: the subresolution images have no transforms, not even the 0 bit indicating the end-of-transforms. Typically, an encoder would use these transforms to reduce the Shannon entropy in the residual image. Also, the transform data can be decided based on entropy minimization. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ while (ReadBits(1)) { // Transform present. // Decode transform type. enum TransformType transform_type = ReadBits(2); // Decode transform data. ... } // Decode actual image data (Section 4). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If a transform is present then the next two bits specify the transform type. There are four types of transforms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ enum TransformType { PREDICTOR_TRANSFORM = 0, COLOR_TRANSFORM = 1, SUBTRACT_GREEN_TRANSFORM = 2, COLOR_INDEXING_TRANSFORM = 3, }; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The transform type is followed by the transform data. Transform data contains the information required to apply the inverse transform and depends on the transform type. Next we describe the transform data for different types. ### 4.1 Predictor Transform The predictor transform can be used to reduce entropy by exploiting the fact that neighboring pixels are often correlated. In the predictor transform, the current pixel value is predicted from the pixels already decoded (in scan-line order) and only the residual value (actual - predicted) is encoded. The _prediction mode_ determines the type of prediction to use. We divide the image into squares and all the pixels in a square use the same prediction mode. The first 3 bits of prediction data define the block width and height in number of bits. The number of block columns, `block_xsize`, is used in indexing two-dimensionally. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int size_bits = ReadBits(3) + 2; int block_width = (1 << size_bits); int block_height = (1 << size_bits); #define DIV_ROUND_UP(num, den) ((num) + (den) - 1) / (den)) int block_xsize = DIV_ROUND_UP(image_width, 1 << size_bits); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The transform data contains the prediction mode for each block of the image. All the `block_width * block_height` pixels of a block use same prediction mode. The prediction modes are treated as pixels of an image and encoded using the same techniques described in [Chapter 5](#image-data). For a pixel _x, y_, one can compute the respective filter block address by: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int block_index = (y >> size_bits) * block_xsize + (x >> size_bits); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are 14 different prediction modes. In each prediction mode, the current pixel value is predicted from one or more neighboring pixels whose values are already known. We choose the neighboring pixels (TL, T, TR, and L) of the current pixel (P) as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O TL T TR O O O O O O O O L P X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ where TL means top-left, T top, TR top-right, L left pixel. At the time of predicting a value for P, all pixels O, TL, T, TR and L have already been processed, and pixel P and all pixels X are unknown. Given the above neighboring pixels, the different prediction modes are defined as follows. | Mode | Predicted value of each channel of the current pixel | | ------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | | 0 | 0xff000000 (represents solid black color in ARGB) | | 1 | L | | 2 | T | | 3 | TR | | 4 | TL | | 5 | Average2(Average2(L, TR), T) | | 6 | Average2(L, TL) | | 7 | Average2(L, T) | | 8 | Average2(TL, T) | | 9 | Average2(T, TR) | | 10 | Average2(Average2(L, TL), Average2(T, TR)) | | 11 | Select(L, T, TL) | | 12 | ClampAddSubtractFull(L, T, TL) | | 13 | ClampAddSubtractHalf(Average2(L, T), TL) | `Average2` is defined as follows for each ARGB component: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ uint8 Average2(uint8 a, uint8 b) { return (a + b) / 2; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Select predictor is defined as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ uint32 Select(uint32 L, uint32 T, uint32 TL) { // L = left pixel, T = top pixel, TL = top left pixel. // ARGB component estimates for prediction. int pAlpha = ALPHA(L) + ALPHA(T) - ALPHA(TL); int pRed = RED(L) + RED(T) - RED(TL); int pGreen = GREEN(L) + GREEN(T) - GREEN(TL); int pBlue = BLUE(L) + BLUE(T) - BLUE(TL); // Manhattan distances to estimates for left and top pixels. int pL = abs(pAlpha - ALPHA(L)) + abs(pRed - RED(L)) + abs(pGreen - GREEN(L)) + abs(pBlue - BLUE(L)); int pT = abs(pAlpha - ALPHA(T)) + abs(pRed - RED(T)) + abs(pGreen - GREEN(T)) + abs(pBlue - BLUE(T)); // Return either left or top, the one closer to the prediction. if (pL < pT) { // \[AMENDED\] return L; } else { return T; } } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The functions `ClampAddSubtractFull` and `ClampAddSubtractHalf` are performed for each ARGB component as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // Clamp the input value between 0 and 255. int Clamp(int a) { return (a < 0) ? 0 : (a > 255) ? 255 : a; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int ClampAddSubtractFull(int a, int b, int c) { return Clamp(a + b - c); } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int ClampAddSubtractHalf(int a, int b) { return Clamp(a + (a - b) / 2); } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are special handling rules for some border pixels. If there is a prediction transform, regardless of the mode \[0..13\] for these pixels, the predicted value for the left-topmost pixel of the image is 0xff000000, L-pixel for all pixels on the top row, and T-pixel for all pixels on the leftmost column. \[AMENDED2\] Addressing the TR-pixel for pixels on the rightmost column is exceptional. The pixels on the rightmost column are predicted by using the modes \[0..13\] just like pixels not on the border, but the leftmost pixel on the same row as the current pixel is instead used as the TR-pixel. ### 4.2 Color Transform \[AMENDED2\] The goal of the color transform is to decorrelate the R, G and B values of each pixel. The color transform keeps the green (G) value as it is, transforms red (R) based on green and transforms blue (B) based on green and then based on red. As is the case for the predictor transform, first the image is divided into blocks and the same transform mode is used for all the pixels in a block. For each block there are three types of color transform elements. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ typedef struct { uint8 green_to_red; uint8 green_to_blue; uint8 red_to_blue; } ColorTransformElement; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The actual color transformation is done by defining a color transform delta. The color transform delta depends on the `ColorTransformElement`, which is the same for all the pixels in a particular block. The delta is subtracted during the color transform. The inverse color transform then is just adding those deltas. The color transform function is defined as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ void ColorTransform(uint8 red, uint8 blue, uint8 green, ColorTransformElement *trans, uint8 *new_red, uint8 *new_blue) { // Transformed values of red and blue components int tmp_red = red; int tmp_blue = blue; // Applying the transform is just subtracting the transform deltas tmp_red -= ColorTransformDelta(trans->green_to_red_, green); tmp_blue -= ColorTransformDelta(trans->green_to_blue_, green); tmp_blue -= ColorTransformDelta(trans->red_to_blue_, red); *new_red = tmp_red & 0xff; *new_blue = tmp_blue & 0xff; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ `ColorTransformDelta` is computed using a signed 8-bit integer representing a 3.5-fixed-point number, and a signed 8-bit RGB color channel (c) \[-128..127\] and is defined as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int8 ColorTransformDelta(int8 t, int8 c) { return (t * c) >> 5; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A conversion from the 8-bit unsigned representation (uint8) to the 8-bit signed one (int8) is required before calling `ColorTransformDelta()`. It should be performed using 8-bit two's complement (that is: uint8 range \[128..255\] is mapped to the \[-128..-1\] range of its converted int8 value). The multiplication is to be done using more precision (with at least 16-bit dynamics). The sign extension property of the shift operation does not matter here: only the lowest 8 bits are used from the result, and there the sign extension shifting and unsigned shifting are consistent with each other. Now we describe the contents of color transform data so that decoding can apply the inverse color transform and recover the original red and blue values. The first 3 bits of the color transform data contain the width and height of the image block in number of bits, just like the predictor transform: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int size_bits = ReadBits(3) + 2; int block_width = 1 << size_bits; int block_height = 1 << size_bits; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The remaining part of the color transform data contains `ColorTransformElement` instances corresponding to each block of the image. `ColorTransformElement` instances are treated as pixels of an image and encoded using the methods described in [Chapter 5](#image-data). During decoding, `ColorTransformElement` instances of the blocks are decoded and the inverse color transform is applied on the ARGB values of the pixels. As mentioned earlier, that inverse color transform is just adding `ColorTransformElement` values to the red and blue channels. \[AMENDED3\] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ void InverseTransform(uint8 red, uint8 green, uint8 blue, ColorTransformElement *trans, uint8 *new_red, uint8 *new_blue) { // Transformed values of red and blue components int tmp_red = red; int tmp_blue = blue; // Applying the inverse transform is just adding the // color transform deltas tmp_red += ColorTransformDelta(trans->green_to_red, green); tmp_blue += ColorTransformDelta(trans->green_to_blue, green); tmp_blue += ColorTransformDelta(trans->red_to_blue, tmp_red & 0xff); *new_red = tmp_red & 0xff; *new_blue = tmp_blue & 0xff; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ### 4.3 Subtract Green Transform The subtract green transform subtracts green values from red and blue values of each pixel. When this transform is present, the decoder needs to add the green value to both red and blue. There is no data associated with this transform. The decoder applies the inverse transform as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ void AddGreenToBlueAndRed(uint8 green, uint8 *red, uint8 *blue) { *red = (*red + green) & 0xff; *blue = (*blue + green) & 0xff; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This transform is redundant as it can be modeled using the color transform, but it is still often useful. Since it can extend the dynamics of the color transform and there is no additional data here, the subtract green transform can be coded using fewer bits than a full-blown color transform. ### 4.4 Color Indexing Transform If there are not many unique pixel values, it may be more efficient to create a color index array and replace the pixel values by the array's indices. The color indexing transform achieves this. (In the context of WebP lossless, we specifically do not call this a palette transform because a similar but more dynamic concept exists in WebP lossless encoding: color cache). The color indexing transform checks for the number of unique ARGB values in the image. If that number is below a threshold (256), it creates an array of those ARGB values, which is then used to replace the pixel values with the corresponding index: the green channel of the pixels are replaced with the index; all alpha values are set to 255; all red and blue values to 0. The transform data contains color table size and the entries in the color table. The decoder reads the color indexing transform data as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // 8 bit value for color table size int color_table_size = ReadBits(8) + 1; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The color table is stored using the image storage format itself. The color table can be obtained by reading an image, without the RIFF header, image size, and transforms, assuming a height of one pixel and a width of `color_table_size`. The color table is always subtraction-coded to reduce image entropy. The deltas of palette colors contain typically much less entropy than the colors themselves, leading to significant savings for smaller images. In decoding, every final color in the color table can be obtained by adding the previous color component values by each ARGB component separately, and storing the least significant 8 bits of the result. The inverse transform for the image is simply replacing the pixel values (which are indices to the color table) with the actual color table values. The indexing is done based on the green component of the ARGB color. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // Inverse transform argb = color_table[GREEN(argb)]; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the index is equal or larger than `color_table_size`, the argb color value should be set to 0x00000000 (transparent black). \[AMENDED\] When the color table is small (equal to or less than 16 colors), several pixels are bundled into a single pixel. The pixel bundling packs several (2, 4, or 8) pixels into a single pixel, reducing the image width respectively. Pixel bundling allows for a more efficient joint distribution entropy coding of neighboring pixels, and gives some arithmetic coding-like benefits to the entropy code, but it can only be used when there are 16 or fewer unique values. `color_table_size` specifies how many pixels are combined: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int width_bits; if (color_table_size <= 2) { width_bits = 3; } else if (color_table_size <= 4) { width_bits = 2; } else if (color_table_size <= 16) { width_bits = 1; } else { width_bits = 0; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ `width_bits` has a value of 0, 1, 2 or 3. A value of 0 indicates no pixel bundling is to be done for the image. A value of 1 indicates that two pixels are combined, and each pixel has a range of \[0..15\]. A value of 2 indicates that four pixels are combined, and each pixel has a range of \[0..3\]. A value of 3 indicates that eight pixels are combined and each pixel has a range of \[0..1\], i.e., a binary value. The values are packed into the green component as follows: * `width_bits` = 1: for every x value where x ≡ 0 (mod 2), a green value at x is positioned into the 4 least-significant bits of the green value at x / 2, a green value at x + 1 is positioned into the 4 most-significant bits of the green value at x / 2. * `width_bits` = 2: for every x value where x ≡ 0 (mod 4), a green value at x is positioned into the 2 least-significant bits of the green value at x / 4, green values at x + 1 to x + 3 are positioned in order to the more significant bits of the green value at x / 4. * `width_bits` = 3: for every x value where x ≡ 0 (mod 8), a green value at x is positioned into the least-significant bit of the green value at x / 8, green values at x + 1 to x + 7 are positioned in order to the more significant bits of the green value at x / 8. 5 Image Data ------------ Image data is an array of pixel values in scan-line order. ### 5.1 Roles of Image Data We use image data in five different roles: 1. ARGB image: Stores the actual pixels of the image. 1. Entropy image: Stores the [meta prefix codes](#decoding-of-meta-prefix-codes). The red and green components of a pixel define the meta prefix code used in a particular block of the ARGB image. 1. Predictor image: Stores the metadata for [Predictor Transform](#predictor-transform). The green component of a pixel defines which of the 14 predictors is used within a particular block of the ARGB image. 1. Color transform image. It is created by `ColorTransformElement` values (defined in [Color Transform](#color-transform)) for different blocks of the image. Each `ColorTransformElement` `'cte'` is treated as a pixel whose alpha component is `255`, red component is `cte.red_to_blue`, green component is `cte.green_to_blue` and blue component is `cte.green_to_red`. 1. Color indexing image: An array of size `color_table_size` (up to 256 ARGB values) storing the metadata for the [Color Indexing Transform](#color-indexing-transform). This is stored as an image of width `color_table_size` and height `1`. ### 5.2 Encoding of Image Data The encoding of image data is independent of its role. The image is first divided into a set of fixed-size blocks (typically 16x16 blocks). Each of these blocks are modeled using their own entropy codes. Also, several blocks may share the same entropy codes. **Rationale:** Storing an entropy code incurs a cost. This cost can be minimized if statistically similar blocks share an entropy code, thereby storing that code only once. For example, an encoder can find similar blocks by clustering them using their statistical properties, or by repeatedly joining a pair of randomly selected clusters when it reduces the overall amount of bits needed to encode the image. Each pixel is encoded using one of the three possible methods: 1. Prefix coded literal: each channel (green, red, blue and alpha) is entropy-coded independently; 2. LZ77 backward reference: a sequence of pixels are copied from elsewhere in the image; or 3. Color cache code: using a short multiplicative hash code (color cache index) of a recently seen color. The following subsections describe each of these in detail. #### 5.2.1 Prefix Coded Literals The pixel is stored as prefix coded values of green, red, blue and alpha (in that order). See [this section](#decoding-entropy-coded-image-data) for details. #### 5.2.2 LZ77 Backward Reference Backward references are tuples of _length_ and _distance code_: * Length indicates how many pixels in scan-line order are to be copied. * Distance code is a number indicating the position of a previously seen pixel, from which the pixels are to be copied. The exact mapping is described [below](#distance-mapping). The length and distance values are stored using **LZ77 prefix coding**. LZ77 prefix coding divides large integer values into two parts: the _prefix code_ and the _extra bits_: the prefix code is stored using an entropy code, while the extra bits are stored as they are (without an entropy code). **Rationale**: This approach reduces the storage requirement for the entropy code. Also, large values are usually rare, and so extra bits would be used for very few values in the image. Thus, this approach results in better compression overall. The following table denotes the prefix codes and extra bits used for storing different ranges of values. Note: The maximum backward reference length is limited to 4096. Hence, only the first 24 prefix codes (with the respective extra bits) are meaningful for length values. For distance values, however, all the 40 prefix codes are valid. | Value range | Prefix code | Extra bits | | --------------- | ----------- | ---------- | | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 1 | 0 | | 3 | 2 | 0 | | 4 | 3 | 0 | | 5..6 | 4 | 1 | | 7..8 | 5 | 1 | | 9..12 | 6 | 2 | | 13..16 | 7 | 2 | | ... | ... | ... | | 3072..4096 | 23 | 10 | | ... | ... | ... | | 524289..786432 | 38 | 18 | | 786433..1048576 | 39 | 18 | The pseudocode to obtain a (length or distance) value from the prefix code is as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ if (prefix_code < 4) { return prefix_code + 1; } int extra_bits = (prefix_code - 2) >> 1; int offset = (2 + (prefix_code & 1)) << extra_bits; return offset + ReadBits(extra_bits) + 1; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Distance Mapping:** {:#distance-mapping} As noted previously, a distance code is a number indicating the position of a previously seen pixel, from which the pixels are to be copied. This subsection defines the mapping between a distance code and the position of a previous pixel. Distance codes larger than 120 denote the pixel-distance in scan-line order, offset by 120. The smallest distance codes \[1..120\] are special, and are reserved for a close neighborhood of the current pixel. This neighborhood consists of 120 pixels: * Pixels that are 1 to 7 rows above the current pixel, and are up to 8 columns to the left or up to 7 columns to the right of the current pixel. \[Total such pixels = `7 * (8 + 1 + 7) = 112`\]. * Pixels that are in same row as the current pixel, and are up to 8 columns to the left of the current pixel. \[`8` such pixels\]. The mapping between distance code `i` and the neighboring pixel offset `(xi, yi)` is as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (0, 1), (1, 0), (1, 1), (-1, 1), (0, 2), (2, 0), (1, 2), (-1, 2), (2, 1), (-2, 1), (2, 2), (-2, 2), (0, 3), (3, 0), (1, 3), (-1, 3), (3, 1), (-3, 1), (2, 3), (-2, 3), (3, 2), (-3, 2), (0, 4), (4, 0), (1, 4), (-1, 4), (4, 1), (-4, 1), (3, 3), (-3, 3), (2, 4), (-2, 4), (4, 2), (-4, 2), (0, 5), (3, 4), (-3, 4), (4, 3), (-4, 3), (5, 0), (1, 5), (-1, 5), (5, 1), (-5, 1), (2, 5), (-2, 5), (5, 2), (-5, 2), (4, 4), (-4, 4), (3, 5), (-3, 5), (5, 3), (-5, 3), (0, 6), (6, 0), (1, 6), (-1, 6), (6, 1), (-6, 1), (2, 6), (-2, 6), (6, 2), (-6, 2), (4, 5), (-4, 5), (5, 4), (-5, 4), (3, 6), (-3, 6), (6, 3), (-6, 3), (0, 7), (7, 0), (1, 7), (-1, 7), (5, 5), (-5, 5), (7, 1), (-7, 1), (4, 6), (-4, 6), (6, 4), (-6, 4), (2, 7), (-2, 7), (7, 2), (-7, 2), (3, 7), (-3, 7), (7, 3), (-7, 3), (5, 6), (-5, 6), (6, 5), (-6, 5), (8, 0), (4, 7), (-4, 7), (7, 4), (-7, 4), (8, 1), (8, 2), (6, 6), (-6, 6), (8, 3), (5, 7), (-5, 7), (7, 5), (-7, 5), (8, 4), (6, 7), (-6, 7), (7, 6), (-7, 6), (8, 5), (7, 7), (-7, 7), (8, 6), (8, 7) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For example, the distance code `1` indicates an offset of `(0, 1)` for the neighboring pixel, that is, the pixel above the current pixel (0 pixel difference in the X-direction and 1 pixel difference in the Y-direction). Similarly, the distance code `3` indicates the left-top pixel. The decoder can convert a distance code `i` to a scan-line order distance `dist` as follows: \[AMENDED3\] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (xi, yi) = distance_map[i - 1] dist = xi + yi * xsize if (dist < 1) { dist = 1 } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ where `distance_map` is the mapping noted above and `xsize` is the width of the image in pixels. #### 5.2.3 Color Cache Coding {:#color-cache-code} Color cache stores a set of colors that have been recently used in the image. **Rationale:** This way, the recently used colors can sometimes be referred to more efficiently than emitting them using the other two methods (described in [5.2.1](#prefix-coded-literals) and [5.2.2](#lz77-backward-reference)). Color cache codes are stored as follows. First, there is a 1-bit value that indicates if the color cache is used. If this bit is 0, no color cache codes exist, and they are not transmitted in the prefix code that decodes the green symbols and the length prefix codes. However, if this bit is 1, the color cache size is read next: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int color_cache_code_bits = ReadBits(4); int color_cache_size = 1 << color_cache_code_bits; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ `color_cache_code_bits` defines the size of the color_cache by (1 << `color_cache_code_bits`). The range of allowed values for `color_cache_code_bits` is \[1..11\]. Compliant decoders must indicate a corrupted bitstream for other values. A color cache is an array of size `color_cache_size`. Each entry stores one ARGB color. Colors are looked up by indexing them by (0x1e35a7bd * `color`) >> (32 - `color_cache_code_bits`). Only one lookup is done in a color cache; there is no conflict resolution. In the beginning of decoding or encoding of an image, all entries in all color cache values are set to zero. The color cache code is converted to this color at decoding time. The state of the color cache is maintained by inserting every pixel, be it produced by backward referencing or as literals, into the cache in the order they appear in the stream. 6 Entropy Code -------------- ### 6.1 Overview Most of the data is coded using a [canonical prefix code][canonical_huff]. Hence, the codes are transmitted by sending the _prefix code lengths_, as opposed to the actual _prefix codes_. In particular, the format uses **spatially-variant prefix coding**. In other words, different blocks of the image can potentially use different entropy codes. **Rationale**: Different areas of the image may have different characteristics. So, allowing them to use different entropy codes provides more flexibility and potentially better compression. ### 6.2 Details The encoded image data consists of several parts: 1. Decoding and building the prefix codes \[AMENDED2\] 1. Meta prefix codes 1. Entropy-coded image data #### 6.2.1 Decoding and Building the Prefix Codes There are several steps in decoding the prefix codes. **Decoding the Code Lengths:** {:#decoding-the-code-lengths} This section describes how to read the prefix code lengths from the bitstream. The prefix code lengths can be coded in two ways. The method used is specified by a 1-bit value. * If this bit is 1, it is a _simple code length code_, and * If this bit is 0, it is a _normal code length code_. In both cases, there can be unused code lengths that are still part of the stream. This may be inefficient, but it is allowed by the format. **(i) Simple Code Length Code:** \[AMENDED2\] This variant is used in the special case when only 1 or 2 prefix symbols are in the range \[0..255\] with code length `1`. All other prefix code lengths are implicitly zeros. The first bit indicates the number of symbols: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int num_symbols = ReadBits(1) + 1; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Following are the symbol values. This first symbol is coded using 1 or 8 bits depending on the value of `is_first_8bits`. The range is \[0..1\] or \[0..255\], respectively. The second symbol, if present, is always assumed to be in the range \[0..255\] and coded using 8 bits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int is_first_8bits = ReadBits(1); symbol0 = ReadBits(1 + 7 * is_first_8bits); code_lengths[symbol0] = 1; if (num_symbols == 2) { symbol1 = ReadBits(8); code_lengths[symbol1] = 1; } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Note:** Another special case is when _all_ prefix code lengths are _zeros_ (an empty prefix code). For example, a prefix code for distance can be empty if there are no backward references. Similarly, prefix codes for alpha, red, and blue can be empty if all pixels within the same meta prefix code are produced using the color cache. However, this case doesn't need special handling, as empty prefix codes can be coded as those containing a single symbol `0`. **(ii) Normal Code Length Code:** The code lengths of the prefix code fit in 8 bits and are read as follows. First, `num_code_lengths` specifies the number of code lengths. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int num_code_lengths = 4 + ReadBits(4); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If `num_code_lengths` is > 19, the bitstream is invalid. \[AMENDED3\] The code lengths are themselves encoded using prefix codes: lower level code lengths, `code_length_code_lengths`, first have to be read. The rest of those `code_length_code_lengths` (according to the order in `kCodeLengthCodeOrder`) are zeros. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int kCodeLengthCodes = 19; int kCodeLengthCodeOrder[kCodeLengthCodes] = { 17, 18, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 }; int code_length_code_lengths[kCodeLengthCodes] = { 0 }; // All zeros for (i = 0; i < num_code_lengths; ++i) { code_length_code_lengths[kCodeLengthCodeOrder[i]] = ReadBits(3); } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next, if `ReadBits(1) == 0`, the maximum number of different read symbols is `num_code_lengths`. Otherwise, it is defined as: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int length_nbits = 2 + 2 * ReadBits(3); int max_symbol = 2 + ReadBits(length_nbits); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A prefix table is then built from `code_length_code_lengths` and used to read up to `max_symbol` code lengths. * Code \[0..15\] indicates literal code lengths. * Value 0 means no symbols have been coded. * Values \[1..15\] indicate the bit length of the respective code. * Code 16 repeats the previous non-zero value \[3..6\] times, i.e., `3 + ReadBits(2)` times. If code 16 is used before a non-zero value has been emitted, a value of 8 is repeated. * Code 17 emits a streak of zeros \[3..10\], i.e., `3 + ReadBits(3)` times. * Code 18 emits a streak of zeros of length \[11..138\], i.e., `11 + ReadBits(7)` times. Once code lengths are read, a prefix code for each symbol type (A, R, G, B, distance) is formed using their respective alphabet sizes: * G channel: 256 + 24 + `color_cache_size` * other literals (A,R,B): 256 * distance code: 40 #### 6.2.2 Decoding of Meta Prefix Codes As noted earlier, the format allows the use of different prefix codes for different blocks of the image. _Meta prefix codes_ are indexes identifying which prefix codes to use in different parts of the image. Meta prefix codes may be used _only_ when the image is being used in the [role](#roles-of-image-data) of an _ARGB image_. There are two possibilities for the meta prefix codes, indicated by a 1-bit value: * If this bit is zero, there is only one meta prefix code used everywhere in the image. No more data is stored. * If this bit is one, the image uses multiple meta prefix codes. These meta prefix codes are stored as an _entropy image_ (described below). **Entropy image:** The entropy image defines which prefix codes are used in different parts of the image, as described below. The first 3-bits contain the `prefix_bits` value. The dimensions of the entropy image are derived from `prefix_bits`. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int prefix_bits = ReadBits(3) + 2; int prefix_xsize = DIV_ROUND_UP(xsize, 1 << prefix_bits); int prefix_ysize = DIV_ROUND_UP(ysize, 1 << prefix_bits); ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ where `DIV_ROUND_UP` is as defined [earlier](#predictor-transform). The next bits contain an entropy image of width `prefix_xsize` and height `prefix_ysize`. **Interpretation of Meta Prefix Codes:** For any given pixel (x, y), there is a set of five prefix codes associated with it. These codes are (in bitstream order): * **Prefix code #1**: used for green channel, backward-reference length and color cache. * **Prefix code #2, #3 and #4**: used for red, blue and alpha channels respectively. * **Prefix code #5**: used for backward-reference distance. From here on, we refer to this set as a **prefix code group**. The number of prefix code groups in the ARGB image can be obtained by finding the _largest meta prefix code_ from the entropy image: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int num_prefix_groups = max(entropy image) + 1; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ where `max(entropy image)` indicates the largest prefix code stored in the entropy image. As each prefix code group contains five prefix codes, the total number of prefix codes is: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int num_prefix_codes = 5 * num_prefix_groups; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Given a pixel (x, y) in the ARGB image, we can obtain the corresponding prefix codes to be used as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ int position = (y >> prefix_bits) * prefix_xsize + (x >> prefix_bits); int meta_prefix_code = (entropy_image[pos] >> 8) & 0xffff; PrefixCodeGroup prefix_group = prefix_code_groups[meta_prefix_code]; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ where, we have assumed the existence of `PrefixCodeGroup` structure, which represents a set of five prefix codes. Also, `prefix_code_groups` is an array of `PrefixCodeGroup` (of size `num_prefix_groups`). The decoder then uses prefix code group `prefix_group` to decode the pixel (x, y) as explained in the [next section](#decoding-entropy-coded-image-data). #### 6.2.3 Decoding Entropy-coded Image Data \[AMENDED2\] For the current position (x, y) in the image, the decoder first identifies the corresponding prefix code group (as explained in the last section). Given the prefix code group, the pixel is read and decoded as follows: Read the next symbol S from the bitstream using prefix code #1. Note that S is any integer in the range `0` to `(256 + 24 + ` [`color_cache_size`](#color-cache-code)` - 1)`. The interpretation of S depends on its value: 1. if S < 256 1. Use S as the green component. 1. Read red from the bitstream using prefix code #2. 1. Read blue from the bitstream using prefix code #3. 1. Read alpha from the bitstream using prefix code #4. 1. if S >= 256 && S < 256 + 24 1. Use S - 256 as a length prefix code. 1. Read extra bits for length from the bitstream. 1. Determine backward-reference length L from length prefix code and the extra bits read. 1. Read distance prefix code from the bitstream using prefix code #5. 1. Read extra bits for distance from the bitstream. 1. Determine backward-reference distance D from distance prefix code and the extra bits read. 1. Copy the L pixels (in scan-line order) from the sequence of pixels prior to them by D pixels. 1. if S >= 256 + 24 1. Use S - (256 + 24) as the index into the color cache. 1. Get ARGB color from the color cache at that index. 7 Overall Structure of the Format --------------------------------- Below is a view into the format in Augmented Backus-Naur Form ([ABNF]). It does not cover all details. End-of-image (EOI) is only implicitly coded into the number of pixels (xsize * ysize). #### 7.1 Basic Structure ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ format = RIFF-header image-size image-stream RIFF-header = "RIFF" 4OCTET "WEBP" "VP8L" 4OCTET %x2F image-size = 14BIT 14BIT ; width - 1, height - 1 image-stream = optional-transform spatially-coded-image ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #### 7.2 Structure of Transforms ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ optional-transform = (%b1 transform optional-transform) / %b0 transform = predictor-tx / color-tx / subtract-green-tx transform =/ color-indexing-tx predictor-tx = %b00 predictor-image predictor-image = 3BIT ; sub-pixel code entropy-coded-image color-tx = %b01 color-image color-image = 3BIT ; sub-pixel code entropy-coded-image subtract-green-tx = %b10 color-indexing-tx = %b11 color-indexing-image color-indexing-image = 8BIT ; color count entropy-coded-image ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #### 7.3 Structure of the Image Data \[AMENDED2\] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ spatially-coded-image = color-cache-info meta-prefix data entropy-coded-image = color-cache-info data color-cache-info = %b0 color-cache-info =/ (%b1 4BIT) ; 1 followed by color cache size meta-prefix = %b0 / (%b1 entropy-image) data = prefix-codes lz77-coded-image entropy-image = 3BIT ; subsample value entropy-coded-image prefix-codes = prefix-code-group *prefix-codes prefix-code-group = 5prefix-code ; See "Interpretation of Meta Prefix Codes" to ; understand what each of these five prefix ; codes are for. prefix-code = simple-prefix-code / normal-prefix-code simple-prefix-code = ; see "Simple Code Length Code" for details normal-prefix-code = code-length-code encoded-code-lengths code-length-code = ; see section "Normal Code Length Code" lz77-coded-image = *((argb-pixel / lz77-copy / color-cache-code) lz77-coded-image) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A possible example sequence: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RIFF-header image-size %b1 subtract-green-tx %b1 predictor-tx %b0 color-cache-info %b0 prefix-codes lz77-coded-image ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [ABNF]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5234 [canonical_huff]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonical_Huffman_code