1. Image processing apparatus, for use in conjunction with an image display device, the image processing apparatus comprising: a memory device for storing data, including a first image data structure, the first image data structure including a first array of wavelet transform coefficients corresponding to a full resolution image; a data processor coupled to the memory device; a multiresolution image management procedure, executable by the data processor, including instructions for generating an image at any of a plurality of selectable resolution levels, the instructions including: image reconstruction instructions for applying an inverse wavelet or wavelet-like transform to a specified set of image data so as to generate image data for displaying a corresponding image on the image display device; and image data extraction instructions, for use when an image resolution level lower than full resolution is selected, wherein the image data extraction instructions generate a second image data structure from the first image data structure by extracting a subset of the wavelet transform coefficients from the first array and storing the extracted subset in a second array in the second image data structure; wherein the image reconstruction instructions operate on the second image data structure when an image resolution level lower than full resolution is selected and operate on the first image data structure when a full image resolution is selected.