Abstract
Recent advances in learned image codecs have extended from human perception toward machine perception However, progressive image compression with fine granular scalability (FGS)-which enables decoding a single bitstream at multiple quality levels-remains unexplored for machine-oriented codecs. In this work, we propose PICM-Net, a progressive learned image compression codec for machine perception built on trit-plane coding. Starting from a human-oriented codec, we adapt it for machine perception via a spatial-frequency modulation adapter (SFMA), a hyper-synthesis low-rank adapter (HSLoRA), and progressive decoding-aware training, and analyze how task-driven adaptation alters symbol prioritization for progressive transmission. To further support real-world deployment, we introduce an adaptive decoding controller that dynamically determines the necessary decoding level at inference time, requesting additional bits only when the current suitability is insufficient for the desired confidence level. Extensive experiments demonstrate that PICM-Net achieves efficient and adaptive progressive transmission while maintaining strong downstream classification performance. Our code is available at https://github.com/kjungwoo03/PICM-Net.