Method of visualizing a large still picture on a small-size display

1. A method of processing a large still picture so as to visualize it on a display having a size smaller than the large still picture, said method comprising the steps of:

dividing the large still picture into a set of pieces, said pieces having a size substantially equal to the display size,

ranking the pieces of the large still picture according to a predetermined scanning order,

encoding the set of pieces using a predictive block-based compression technique according to said predetermined scanning order so as to obtain a video sequence, and

decoding and displaying the video sequence on the display.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pieces of the large still picture overlap each other and wherein the dividing and ranking steps are based on a traveling shot adapted to cover at least a part of the large still picture.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of detecting contours within the large still picture.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the dividing and ranking steps are based on a continuous scanning of the contours detected by the step of detecting contours.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the contours belong to an object, and wherein the ranking step comprises scanning the contours from left to right and from top to bottom until the center of the object is reached.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of zooming a part of the large still picture.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the zooming step comprising:

down-sampling the large still picture to generate a down-sampled picture, wherein the down-sampled picture has a lower resolution than the large still picture; and

forming a final picture of the video sequence using the down-sampled picture.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a computer program product comprising program instructions for implementing, when said computer program product is executed by a processor, the method of claim 1 .

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ranking step comprises scanning the large still picture from left to right, then from top to down, then from right to left.

10. A device for processing a large still picture so as to visualize it on a display having a size smaller than the large still picture, said device comprising:

said display,

means for dividing the large still picture into a set of pieces, said pieces having a size substantially equal to the display size,

means for ranking the pieces of the large still picture according to a predetermined scanning order,

an encoder for encoding the set of pieces using a predictive block-based compression technique according to said predetermined scanning order so as to obtain a video sequence, and

a decoder for decoding and displaying the video sequence on the display.