Awesome End-to-End Neural Image Coding
This repository accompanies the survey End-to-End Neural Image Coding: Foundation, Evolution, Deployment, and Outlook .
The page first highlights the TinyLIC benchmark, then lists papers by survey section.
Figure 2. Core technique taxonomy for end-to-end learned image coding
Figure 8. TinyLIC benchmark overview
01 | TinyLIC and Benchmark
Code links point to confirmed public repositories when available; otherwise - indicates that no reliable open-source implementation was found during this pass.
TinyLIC is the open benchmark centerpiece of this survey: a transparent, efficient, and extensible reference codec for studying practical learned image compression.
Component
Description
Backbone
Lightweight VAE-based transform coding framework
Main block
Efficient depth-wise ConvNeXt-style EDN block
Entropy model
Lightweight 4-step channel autoregressive Gaussian model
Complexity levels
Nano, Small, and Base at roughly 10, 20, and 50 KMACs/pixel
Optimization
Objective Fidelity-oriented and Perceptual Realism-oriented variants
Practical tools
Variable-rate control, INT8 consistent decoding, attack-resilient training, progressive coding, and loss-resilient coding
TinyLIC Variant
Dec. KMACs/pixel
Params
Kodak PSNR BD-rate vs. VTM
CLIC PSNR BD-rate vs. VTM
Tecnick PSNR BD-rate vs. VTM
Nano
10
3.16M
14.78
14.68
12.76
Small
20
4.76M
5.43
4.63
2.73
Base
50
10.57M
-0.79
-1.76
-4.21
+ VR
50
-
-1.50
-2.75
-5.02
+ VR + INT8
50
-
-0.41
-1.45
-3.68
+ VR + INT8 + Progressive
50
-
3.15
-1.04
-1.71
+ VR + INT8 + Attack-Resilient
50
-
-0.20
-1.36
-3.36
+ VR + INT8 + Loss-Resilient
50
-
9.69
8.54
6.01
Lower BD-rate is better. VTM 22.0 is used as the anchor for distortion-oriented evaluation.
1.3 | Benchmark and Evaluation
Method
Pub.
Arch.
Context
Params
KMACs/pixel
BD-rate vs. VTM
Article
Code
Factorized
ICLR 2017
CNN
Factorized
7.03M
204.00
67.80
Article
GitHub
Hyperprior
ICLR 2018
CNN
Hyperprior
11.81M
208.97
30.14
Article
GitHub
JointAR
NeurIPS 2018
CNN
SAR
25.50M
224.80
10.61
Article
GitHub
ChannelAR
ICIP 2020
CNN
CAR
28.72M
243.00
7.22
Article
GitHub
NLAIC
TIP 2021
Attention
SCAR
65.50M
823.54
5.92
Article
GitHub
GMM
CVPR 2020
CNN
SAR
29.63M
512.80
4.55
Article
GitHub
ELIC
CVPR 2022
CNN
SCAR
36.93M
573.88
-3.22
Article
Github
TIC
DCC 2022
Attention
SCAR
28.40M
506.72
-4.58
Article
GitHub
TCM
CVPR 2023
Attention
CAR
76.57M
1823.58
-10.70
Article
GitHub
QARV
TPAMI 2024
CNN
HAR
93.40M
718.96
-5.81
Article
GitHub
FLIC
ICLR 2024
Attention
CAR
70.97M
1096.04
-12.97
Article
GitHub
MambaIC
CVPR 2025
Mamba
SCAR
75.78M
1284.86
-15.72
Article
GitHub
HPCM
ICCV 2025
CNN
HAR
89.71M
1261.29
-19.19
Article
GitHub
DHIC
ICLR 2026
CNN
HAR
106.93M
977.73
-19.73
Article
GitHub
2.1.1 | Convolutional Transforms
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
End-to-end optimization of nonlinear transform codes for perceptual quality
PCS 2016
Early nonlinear transform coding framework
Article
GitHub
End-to-end optimized image compression
ICLR 2017
Foundational variational transform coding with differentiable quantization surrogate
Article
GitHub
Lossy Image Compression with Compressive Autoencoders
ICLR 2017
Learned autoencoder-based lossy compression
Article
Github
Variational image compression with a scale hyperprior
ICLR 2018
Hyperprior becomes a standard side-information design
Article
GitHub
An End-to-End Compression Framework Based on Convolutional Neural Networks
TCSVT 2018
CNN codec with end-to-end optimization
IEEE
-
Learned Image Compression With Discretized Gaussian Mixture Likelihoods and Attention Modules
CVPR 2020
GMM likelihood and attention-enhanced CNN transform
Article
GitHub
End-to-End Learnt Image Compression via Non-Local Attention Optimization and Improved Context Modeling
TIP 2021
Non-local attention as a bridge from CNNs to global-context codecs
Article
GitHub
2.1.2 | Transformer-Based Transforms
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Transformer-based transform coding
ICLR 2022
Early Transformer transform for image compression
Article
Github
Transformer-based Image Compression
DCC 2022
Transformer image compression
Article
GitHub
Entroformer: A Transformer-based Entropy Model for Learned Image Compression
ICLR 2022
Transformer-based entropy modeling
Article
GitHub
The Devil Is in the Details: Window-based Attention for Image Compression
CVPR 2022
Window attention improves practicality over full attention
Article
GitHub
Contextformer: A Transformer With Spatio-Channel Attention for Context Modeling
ECCV 2022
Spatio-channel attention for context modeling
Article
-
Learned Image Compression With Mixed Transformer-CNN Architectures
CVPR 2023
Hybrid CNN-Transformer design balances local and global modeling
Article
GitHub
Frequency-Aware Transformer for Learned Image Compression
ICLR 2024
Frequency-aware attention and channel-wise autoregressive modeling
Article
GitHub
Linear Attention Modeling for Learned Image Compression
CVPR 2025
Linear-complexity attention for LIC
Article
GitHub
2.1.3 | Mamba-Based Transforms
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
MambaVC: Learned Visual Compression with Selective State Spaces
arXiv 2024
Selective state-space modeling for visual compression
Article
GitHub
MambaIC: State Space Models for High-Performance Learned Image Compression
CVPR 2025
SSM-based transform/context modeling for efficient compression
Article
GitHub
CASSIC: Towards Content-Adaptive State-Space Models for Learned Image Compression
ICCV 2025
Content-adaptive state-space codec
Article
-
Content-Aware Mamba for Learned Image Compression
ICLR 2026
Content-aware Mamba transform for LIC
Article
GitHub
2.1.4 | Hierarchical and Alternative Transforms
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Neural Multi-Scale Image Compression
ACCV 2018
Multi-scale learned compression
Article
GitHub
Efficient Variable Rate Image Compression with Multi-Scale Decomposition Network
TCSVT 2018
Multi-scale decomposition for rate scalability
Article
-
Coarse-to-Fine Hyper-Prior Modeling for Learned Image Compression
AAAI 2020
Coarse-to-fine hyperprior modeling
Article
GitHub
End-to-End Optimized Versatile Image Compression With Wavelet-Like Transform
TPAMI 2020
Learned wavelet-like transform
Article
GitHub
Graph-Convolution Network for Image Compression
ICIP 2021
Graph-based transform design
Article
-
Lossy Image Compression with Quantized Hierarchical VAEs
WACV 2023
Hierarchical VAE and quantized residual layers
Article
GitHub
QARV: Quantization-Aware ResNet VAE for Lossy Image Compression
TPAMI 2024
Hierarchical residual VAE with quantization-aware design
Article
GitHub
WeConvene: Learned Image Compression with Wavelet-Domain Convolution and Entropy Model
ECCV 2024
Wavelet-domain convolution and entropy modeling
Article
GitHub
FDNet: Frequency Decomposition Network for Learned Image Compression
TCSVT 2024
Frequency decomposition network
Article
-
Taming Hierarchical Image Coding Optimization: A Spectral Regularization Perspective
ICLR 2026
Spectral regularization for hierarchical coding
Article
GitHub
Adaptive Learned Image Compression with Graph Neural Networks
CVPR 2026
Content-adaptive image compression framework based on Graph Neural Networks
Article
GitHub
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Additive noise surrogate
End-to-end optimized image compression
ICLR 2017
Uniform noise approximates scalar quantization during training
Article
GitHub
Universal quantization
Variable Rate Deep Image Compression With a Conditional Autoencoder
ICCV 2019
Subtractive dithering and conditional autoencoder for rate variation
CVF
-
Soft-to-hard quantization
Soft-to-Hard Vector Quantization for End-to-End Learning Compressible Representations
NeurIPS 2017
Temperature-controlled relaxation of hard assignments
Proceedings
-
Soft-then-hard quantization
Soft then Hard: Rethinking the Quantization in Neural Image Compression
ICML 2021
Soft training followed by hard quantization finetuning
PMLR
-
Product quantization
NVTC: Nonlinear Vector Transform Coding
CVPR 2023
Hierarchical/product quantization for learned compression
Article
GitHub
Lattice VQ
LVQAC: Lattice Vector Quantization Coupled with Spatially Adaptive Companding
CVPR 2023
Lattice VQ with adaptive companding
CVF
-
Adaptive lattice VQ
Multirate Neural Image Compression with Adaptive Lattice Vector Quantization
CVPR 2025
Multirate adaptive lattice VQ
Article
-
Dead-zone quantization
Learned Progressive Image Compression with Dead-zone Quantizers
TCSVT 2022
Sparse-latent quantization with larger zero interval
Article
-
Contextual sequential quantization
NLIC: Non-uniform Quantization-based Learned Image Compression
2024
Context-adaptive quantization levels
Article
-
RD-aware VQ
Differentiable Vector Quantization for Rate-Distortion Optimization of Generative Image Compression
CVPR 2026
Differentiable relaxation couples VQ with entropy/R-D loss
Article
GitHub
Model Family
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Factorized prior
End-to-end optimized image compression
ICLR 2017
Independent latent prior baseline
Article
GitHub
Hyperprior
Variational image compression with a scale hyperprior
ICLR 2018
Side information predicts latent scale
Article
GitHub
Spatial autoregression
Joint Autoregressive and Hierarchical Priors for Learned Image Compression
NeurIPS 2018
Combines masked spatial context and hyperprior
Article
GitHub
Context-adaptive entropy model
Context-adaptive Entropy Model for End-to-end Optimized Image Compression
ICLR 2019
Adaptive entropy estimation
Article
GitHub
Channel autoregression
Channel-wise Autoregressive Entropy Models for Learned Image Compression
ICIP 2020
Channel dependencies reduce spatial sequential cost
Article
GitHub
Spatial-channel context
Spatial-Channel Context-Based Entropy Modeling for End-to-end Optimized Image Compression
VCIP 2020
Joint spatial and channel context
Article
-
Checkerboard context
Checkerboard Context Model for Efficient Learned Image Compression
CVPR 2021
Parallel-friendly context modeling
Article
GitHub
Uneven space-channel context
ELIC
CVPR 2022
Unevenly grouped SC context for strong R-D performance
Article
Github
Multi-reference context
MLIC / MLIC++
MM 2023 / TOMM 2025
Multi-reference entropy modeling and linear-complexity extension
Article
GitHub
Hierarchical progressive context
HPCM
ICCV 2025
Multi-scale progressive context schedule
Article
GitHub
Hierarchical VAE
Taming Hierarchical Image Coding Optimization: A Spectral Regularization Perspective
ICLR 2026
Hierarchical modeling
Article
GitHub
2.4 | Rate-Distortion Optimization
Direction
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Perception-distortion theory
The Perception-Distortion Tradeoff
CVPR 2018
Formalizes the perception-distortion frontier
Article
-
Rate-distortion-perception
Rethinking Lossy Compression: The Rate-Distortion-Perception Tradeoff
ICML 2019
Theoretical R-D-P trade-off
Article
-
Learned perceptual metric
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metric
CVPR 2018
LPIPS-style perceptual losses
Article
-
Perceptual/generative compression
High-Fidelity Generative Image Compression
NeurIPS 2020
GAN-based high-fidelity compression
Article
GitHub
Statistical fidelity
Improving Statistical Fidelity for Neural Image Compression with Implicit Local Likelihood Models
ICML 2023
Implicit local likelihood models improve perceptual statistics
Article
GitHub
Human-machine coding
Icmh-Net: Neural Image Compression towards Both Machine Vision and Human Vision
ACM MM 2023
Neural image compression for human and machine vision
Article
-
Multi-machine coding
All-in-One Image Coding for Joint Human-Machine Vision with Multi-Path Aggregation
NeurIPS 2024
Neural image compression for multi-tasks
Article
GitHub
03 | Practical Extensions
3.1 | Variable-Rate Coding and Rate Control
3.1.1 | Variable-Rate Coding
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Recurrent refinement
Variable Rate Image Compression with Recurrent Neural Networks
ICLR 2016
Bitrate controlled by recurrent iteration count
Article
-
Recurrent full-resolution codec
Full Resolution Image Compression with Recurrent Neural Networks
CVPR 2017
RNN residual refinement at full resolution
Article
GitHub
Improved recurrent codec
Improved Lossy Image Compression with Priming and Spatially Adaptive Bit Rates
CVPR 2018
Better recurrent training and adaptive bit allocation
Article
-
Slimmable codec
Slimmable Compressive Autoencoders for Practical Neural Image Compression
CVPR 2021
Subnetworks represent different rate/complexity levels
Article
GitHub
Quality scaling factor
Variable Bitrate Image Compression with Quality Scaling Factors
ICASSP 2020
Latent scaling controls bitrate in a single model
Article
GitHub
Modulated autoencoder
Variable Rate Deep Image Compression with Modulated Autoencoder
SPL 2020
Modulation controls rate without multiple models
Article
GitHub
Conditional autoencoder
Variable Rate Deep Image Compression with a Conditional Autoencoder
ICCV 2019
Conditional rate control
Article
-
Interpolation VRC
Interpolation Variable Rate Image Compression
ACM MM 2021
Fine-grained rate interpolation
Article
-
Asymmetric gained VRC
Asymmetric Gained Deep Image Compression with Continuous Rate Adaptation
CVPR 2021
Continuous rate adaptation with gained units
Article
GitHub
High-fidelity VRC
High-Fidelity Variable-Rate Image Compression via Invertible Activation Transformation
ACM MM 2022
Invertible activation transformation for perceptual VRC
Article
GitHub
Spatial importance guidance
SIGVIC: Spatial Importance Guided Variable-Rate Image Compression
ICASSP 2023
Spatially adaptive bit allocation
Article
GitHub
Transformer ROI control
Transformer-Based Variable-Rate Image Compression with Region-of-Interest Control
ICIP 2023
Transformer VRC with ROI control
Article
GitHub
Adaptive quantization
Stanh: Parametric Quantization for Variable Rate Learned Image Compression
TIP 2025
Parametric quantizer for variable-rate LIC
Article
GitHub
3.1.2 | Progressive Coding
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Recurrent progressive coding
Learning to Inpaint for Image Compression
NeurIPS 2017
Progressive reconstruction with recurrent refinement
Article
-
Selective latent compression
Selective Compression Learning of Latent Representations for Variable-Rate Image Compression
NeurIPS 2022
Selectively transmits latent subsets
Article
GitHub
Trit-plane coding
DPICT: Deep progressive image compression using trit-planes
CVPR 2022
Ordered ternary-plane transmission
Article
GitHub
Intrinsic importance ordering
ProgDTD: Progressive Learned Image Compression With Double-Tail-Drop Training
CVPRW 2023
Training objective encourages latent importance order
Article
GitHub
Efficient progressive coding
Efficient progressive image compression with variance-aware masking
WACV 2025
Element-wise importance ranking and masking
Article
GitHub
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
JPEG AI VRC analysis
Overview of Variable Rate Coding in JPEG AI
TCSVT 2025
Reviews 3D quality control and rate matching
IEEE
-
Rate-feature-level prediction
Rate Controllable Learned Image Compression Based on RFL Model
VCIP 2022
Predicts coding parameters from target rate and image features
Article
-
Lambda-domain RC
Lambda-domain Rate Control for Neural Image Compression
MMAsia 2023
Predicts lambda from target bitrate
Article
-
Neural RC for JPEG AI
An Efficient Neural Rate Control for JPEG-AI
TCSVT 2025
Neural predictor selects discrete model/parameter indices
IEEE
-
Block-level RC
Block-Level Rate Control for Learnt Image Coding
PCS 2022
Block-wise bitrate-parameter curves and greedy allocation
IEEE
-
Accelerated block-level RC
Accelerating Block-level Rate Control for Learned Image Compression
DCC 2024
Predicts block curves from sampled blocks
IEEE
-
3.2 | Model Quantization and Cross-Platform Consistence
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Integer-only codec
Integer Networks for Data Compression with Latent-Variable Models
ICLR 2019
Eliminates floating-point mismatch through integer-domain design
OpenReview
-
Fixed-point decoding
Efficient Neural Image Decoding via Fixed-Point Inference
TCSVT 2020
Fixed-point inference for deterministic decoding
Article
GitHub
Fixed-point arithmetic
Learned Image Compression with Fixed-Point Arithmetic
PCS 2021
Fixed-point arithmetic for LIC
Article
-
QAT with channel splitting
Q-LIC: Quantizing Learned Image Compression with Channel Splitting
TCSVT 2022
Splits high-error channels to reduce quantization distortion
Article
-
PTQ consistency
Post-Training Quantization for Cross-Platform Learned Image Compression
arXiv 2022
PTQ plus deterministic entropy coding
arXiv
-
R-D optimized PTQ
Rate-Distortion Optimized Post-Training Quantization for Learned Image Compression
TCSVT 2023
Optimizes quantization with compression-aware losses
Article
GitHub
3.2.2 | Mixed-Precision Quantization and Joint Compression
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Mixed precision
Flexible Mixed Precision Quantization for Learned Image Compression
ICME 2024
Assigns different precision to sensitive modules
Article
GitLab
Mixed-precision PTQ
Mixed-Precision Post-Training Quantization for Learned Image Compression
IoT-J 2025
Post-training bit-width allocation
Article
-
Pruning + QAT
Structured Pruning and Quantization for Learned Image Compression
ICIP 2024
Joint model compression for deployment
Article
-
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Manipulation attacks
MALICE: Manipulation Attacks on Learned Image Compression
arXiv 2022
Early attack formulation for learned codecs
arXiv
-
White-box evasion
Toward Robust Neural Image Compression: Adversarial Attack and Model Finetuning
TCSVT 2023
FTDA attack and adversarial finetuning defense
Article
GitHub
Backdoor attack
Backdoor Attacks Against Deep Image Compression via Adaptive Frequency Trigger
CVPR 2023
Poisoned trigger attacks in compression training
Article
-
Robust backdoor trigger
Robust and Transferable Backdoor Attacks Against Deep Image Compression With Selective Frequency Prior
TPAMI 2025
Frequency-domain/robust triggers
Article
-
JPEG AI robustness
Exploring adversarial robustness of JPEG AI: methodology, comparison and new methods
arXiv 2024
Large-scale JPEG AI perturbation/attack evaluation
arXiv
-
3.3.2 | Defenses and Practical Robustness
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Architecture-level simplification
MALICE / manipulation attack follow-ups
2022-2023
Simpler entropy models can reduce attack sensitivity
arXiv
-
Adversarial training
Toward Robust Neural Image Compression
TCSVT 2023
Robust finetuning improves adversarial stability
Article
GitHub
Latent consistency
Successive Learned Image Compression: Comprehensive Analysis of Instability
Neurocomputing 2022
Repeated compression and latent consistency
Article
-
Transmission error robustness
ResiComp: Loss-Resilient Image Compression via Dual-Functional Masked Visual Token Modeling
TCSVT 2025
Joint source-channel style robustness to packet loss
Article
GitHub
Loss-resilient learned compression
Towards Loss-Resilient Image Coding for Unstable Satellite Networks
AAAI 2025
Network-aware training for unreliable channels
Article
GitHub
Compression as defense
ComDefend: An Efficient Image Compression Model to Defend Adversarial Examples
CVPR 2019
Compression model as adversarial defense for vision tasks
Article
GitHub
3.4 | Lightweight Deployment
3.4.1 | Knowledge Distillation
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Output/entropy distillation
Fast and High-Performance Learned Image Compression with Improved Checkerboard Context Model, Deformable Residual Module, and Knowledge Distillation
TIP 2024
Distillation for faster learned codec
Article
-
Efficient LIC distillation
Efficient Learned Image Compression Through Knowledge Distillation
arXiv 2025
Intermediate/latent distillation for smaller students
Article
GitHub
KDIC
Knowledge Distillation for Learned Image Compression
ICCV 2025
Multi-level distillation across codec blocks
Article
-
EVC
EVC: Towards Practical Neural Image Compression
CVPR/TCSVT-era
Mask-decay model slimming from large to small codec
Article
GitHub
CSLIC
Distilling Complexity-Scalable Learned Image Compression Models via Neural Architecture Search
TCSVT 2026
NAS + KD for scalable complexity levels
Article
-
3.4.2 | Architecture-Level Lightweight Design
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Non-autoregressive codec
Towards Efficient Image Compression Without Autoregressive Models
NeurIPS 2023
Removes sequential AR bottleneck
Article
-
Asymmetric codec
AsymLLIC: Asymmetric Lightweight Learned Image Compression
VCIP 2024
Shifts computation to encoder, keeps decoder light
Article
GitHub
Shift operations
ShiftLIC: Lightweight Learned Image Compression with Spatial-Channel Shift Operations
TCSVT 2025
Shift operators replace heavier convolutions
Article
GitHub
Lightweight attention
Towards Real-Time Practical Image Compression with Lightweight Attention
ESWA 2024
Lightweight attention for practical decoding
Article
GitHub
Shallow decoder
Computationally-Efficient Neural Image Compression with Shallow Decoders
ICCV 2023
Nearly linear decoder for low KMAC deployment
Article
GitHub
Switchable priors
Learning Switchable Priors for Neural Image Compression
TCSVT 2025
Low-complexity FastNIC with switchable priors
Article
-
Dynamic routing
AdaNIC: Towards Practical Neural Image Compression via Dynamic Transform Routing
ICCV 2023
Content-aware computation allocation
CVF
GitHub
3.4.3 | Test-Time Adaptation
Function
Paper
Venue
Review Note
Article
Code
Latent refinement
Content Adaptive Optimization for Neural Image Compression
CVPRW 2019
Optimizes latents per image at encoding time
Article
-
Improved latent inference
Improving Inference for Neural Image Compression
NeurIPS 2020
Refines latents and side information
Article
GitHub
Instance-adaptive compression
Overfitting for Fun and Profit: Instance-Adaptive Data Compression
ICLR 2021
Per-instance decoder/entropy optimization
Article
-
Adapter-based adaptation
Dec-Adapter: Exploring Efficient Decoder-Side Adapter for Bridging Screen Content and Natural Image Compression
ICCV 2023
Decoder-side adapters for domain shift
CVF
-
Universal adapters
Universal Deep Image Compression via Content-Adaptive Optimization with Adapters
WACV 2023
Adapter-based content adaptation
CVF
GitHub
Dynamic low-rank adaptation
Dynamic Low-Rank Instance Adaptation for Universal Neural Image Compression
ACM MM 2023
Low-rank adaptation for per-image/domain shifts
Article
GitHub
Cross-domain TTA
Test-Time Adaptation for Image Compression with Distribution Regularization
ICLR 2025
Plug-and-play Bayesian regularization under shifts
Article
GitHub
3.5 | Standardization Progress
Standard / Topic
Paper or Document
Year
Review Note
Article
Code
JPEG AI standard overview
The JPEG AI Standard: Providing Efficient Human and Machine Visual Data Consumption
2023
Early overview of JPEG AI objectives
Article
-
IEEE 1857.11
IEEE Standard for Neural Network-Based Image Coding
2024
Neural network-based image coding standard
Article
-
Pull requests are welcome. Please add new entries under the matching review subsection.
| Function | Paper | Venue | Review Note | Link |
If a paper spans multiple functions, list it in each relevant subsection, following the structure above.