Apparatus and methods to compress still images

1. A still image compressing apparatus comprising:

a memory to store image data;

a sub-image generator to generate a plurality of same-resolution sub-images from a still image; and

a moving image compressor to form a moving image having the sub-images as frames of the moving image, and compress the moving image to form a compressed representation of the still image;

wherein the moving image is generated to store the still image when a storage capacity of the memory is not sufficient to store additional data.

2. The still image compressing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sub-image generator is to split the still image into the sub-images having sizes acceptable by the moving image compressor.

3. The still image compressing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sub-image generator is to split the still image into the sub-images having substantially the same size.

4. The still image compressing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sub-image generator is to sub-sample the still image to generate the sub-images having sizes acceptable by the moving image compressor.

5. The still image compressing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a display unit to display one of the sub-images generated by the sub-image generator when displaying the still image.

6. The digital image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the moving image compressor compresses the moving image using MPEG or H.264.

7. The digital image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the moving image compressor considers only the sub-images selected by a user as the frame images.

8. A digital image processing apparatus comprising:

a sub-image generator for generating at least one sub-images from a still image;

a moving image compressor for considering the still image as a moving image by using each of the sub-images as a frame image, and compressing the moving image having the frame images; and

a sub-image rearrangement unit for rearranging the sub-images generated by the sub-image generator such that sub-images having high correlation are arranged adjacent to each other, wherein the moving image compressor considers the still image as the moving image by using the rearranged sub-images as a series of frame images and compresses the moving image having the frame images.

9. The digital image processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the sub-image rearrangement unit determines that sub-images have high correlation when similarity of the sub-images is high.

10. The digital image processing apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising a correlation coefficient calculator calculating a correlation coefficient Cost n,m between an n th sub-image and an m th sub-image, before being rearranged by the sub-image rearrangement unit, according to the following equation when data of a pixel (x, y) of the n th sub-image is P n (x, y),

Cost

n

,

m

=

∑

x

,

y

⁢



P

n

⁡

(

x

,

y

)

-

P

m

⁡

(

x

,

y

)



wherein the sub-image rearrangement unit determines that the n th sub-image and the m th sub-image have high correlation when the correlation coefficient Cost n,m is small.

11. A method of compressing a still image, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of same-resolution sub-images from the still image;

forming a moving image having the sub-images as frames of the moving image; and

compressing the moving image to form a compressed representation of the still image;

wherein the moving image is generated to store the still image when a storage capacity of a memory to store image data is not sufficient to store additional data.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the generating of the sub-images comprises splitting the still image into the sub-images having sizes acceptable by a moving image compressor of the digital image processing apparatus.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the generating of the sub-images comprises splitting the still image into the sub-images having the same size.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the generating of the sub-images comprises sub-sampling the still image to generate the sub-images having sizes acceptable by the moving image compressor of the digital image processing apparatus.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising displaying one of the sub-images on a display unit of the digital image processing apparatus when displaying the still image on the display unit of the digital image processing apparatus.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the compressing of the moving image uses MPEG or H.264.

17. A non-transitory recording medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least carry out the method of claim 11 .

18. A method of controlling a digital image processing apparatus, the method comprising:

generating at least one sub-images from a still image;

considering the still image as a moving image by using each of the sub-images as a frame image; and

compressing the moving image having the frame images, wherein the considering of the still image as a moving image comprises rearranging the sub-images such that sub-images having high correlation are arranged adjacent to each other, considering the still image as the moving image by using the rearranged sub-images as a series of frame images, and compressing the moving image having the frame images.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein it is determined that sub-images have high correlation when similarity of the sub-images is high.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising calculating a correlation coefficient Cost n,m between an n th sub-image and an m th sub-image, before being rearranged by the sub-image rearrangement unit, according to the following equation when data of a pixel (x, y) of the n th sub-image is P n (x, y),

Cost

n

,

m

=

∑

x

,

y

⁢



P

n

⁡

(

x

,

y

)

-

P

m

⁡

(

x

,

y

)



wherein it is determined that the n th sub-image and the m th sub-image have high correlation when the correlation coefficient Cost n,m is small.