An image encoding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, or image encoding and decoding apparatus having a circuit for dividing a screen into sub-areas to conduct an encoding or decoding operation for each sub-area includes an image dividing circuit for dividing an input image into sub-areas...http://www.google.com.au/patents/US5701160?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5701160 - Image encoding and decoding apparatus
