The problem of sparse image coding

Linear expansions of images find many applications in image processing and computer vision. Over-complete expansions are often desirable, as they are better models of the image-generation process. Such expansions lead to the use of sparse codes. However, minimizing the number of non-zero coefficients of linear expansions is an unsolved problem. In this article, a generative-model framework is used to analyze the requirements, the difficulty, and current approaches to sparse image coding.