A comparative study of quantum Haar wavelet and quantum Fourier transforms for quantum image transmission

Quantum communication has achieved significant performance gains compared to classical systems but remains sensitive to channel noise and decoherence. These limitations become especially critical in quantum image transmission, where high-dimensional visual data must be preserved with both structural fidelity and robustness. In this context, transform-based quantum encoding methods have emerged as promising approaches, yet their relative performance under noisy conditions has not been fully explored. This paper presents a comparative study of two such methods, the quantum Fourier transform (QFT) and the quantum Haar wavelet transform (QHWT), within an image transmission framework. The process begins with source coding (JPEG/HEIF), followed by channel coding to enhance error resilience. The bitstreams are then mapped into quantum states using variable qubit encoding and transformed using either QFT or QHWT prior to transmission over noisy quantum channels. At the receiver, the corresponding decoding operations are applied to reconstruct the images. Simulation results demonstrate that the QFT achieves superior performance under noisy conditions, consistently delivering higher Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM), and Universal Quality Index (UQI) values across different qubit sizes and image formats compared to the QHWT. This advantage arises because QFT uniformly spreads information across all basis states, making it more resilient to noise. By contrast, QHWT generates localized coefficients that capture structural details effectively but become highly vulnerable when dominant coefficients are corrupted. Consequently, while QHWT emphasizes structural fidelity, QFT provides superior robustness, underscoring a fundamental trade-off in quantum image communication.