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Data Compression

Data compression reduces the size of data by encoding it in fewer bits. It works by removing statistical redundancies or unnecessary information from data. Compression can be lossless, preserving all original information, or lossy, which degrades quality to achieve higher compression but smaller file sizes. Data compression is important because it reduces storage and transmission costs by decreasing file sizes for audio, video, and other file types frequently compressed and transmitted online or stored on devices.

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TURAGA VIJAYAAKASH
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72 views

Data Compression

Data compression reduces the size of data by encoding it in fewer bits. It works by removing statistical redundancies or unnecessary information from data. Compression can be lossless, preserving all original information, or lossy, which degrades quality to achieve higher compression but smaller file sizes. Data compression is important because it reduces storage and transmission costs by decreasing file sizes for audio, video, and other file types frequently compressed and transmitted online or stored on devices.

Uploaded by

TURAGA VIJAYAAKASH
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Data compression

What is Data Compression?

Data compression is the process of encoding, restructuring or otherwise modifying


data in order to reduce its size. Fundamentally, it involves re-encoding information using
fewer bits than the original representation.

Compression is done by a program that uses functions or an algorithm to


effectively discover how to reduce the size of the data. For example, an algorithm might
represent a string of bits with a smaller string of bits by using a ‘reference dictionary’ for
conversion between them. Another example involves a formula that inserts a reference or
pointer to a string of data that the program has already seen. A good example of this often
occurs with image compression. When a sequence of colors, like ‘blue, red, red, blue’ is
found throughout the image, the formula can turn this data string into a single bit, while still
maintaining the underlying information.

Text compression can usually succeed by removing all unnecessary characters,


instead inserting a single character as reference for a string of repeated characters, then
replacing a smaller bit string for a more common bit string. With proper techniques, data
compression can effectively lower a text file by 50% or more, greatly reducing its overall
size.

For data transmission, compression can be run on the content or on the entire
transmission. When information is sent or received via the internet, larger files, either on their
own or with others, or as part of an archive file, may be transmitted in one of many
compressed formats, like ZIP, RAR, 7z, or MP3.
Lossy vs Lossless
Compression is often broken down into two major forms, “lossy” and “lossless”. When
choosing between the two methods, it is important to understand their strengths and
weaknesses:

 Lossless Compression:

Removes bits by locating and removing statistical redundancies. Because of this


technique, no information is actually removed. Lossless compression will often have a
smaller compression ratio, with the benefit of not losing any data in the file. This is often
very important when needing to maintain absolute quality, as with database information or
professional media files. Formats such as FLAC and PNG offer lossless compression options.

 Lossy Compression:

Lowers size by deleting unnecessary information, and reducing the complexity of


existing information. Lossy compression can achieve much higher compression ratios, at the
cost of possible degradation of file quality. JPEG offers lossy compression options, and MP3
is based on lossy compression.
Data Compression Uses

Most businesses today rely on data compression in some major way, especially as the
functional quality of data increases, storage capacity concerns have to be resolved. Data
compression is one of the major tools that helps with this. There a number of file types that
are frequently compressed:

 Audio Compression:

Implemented as audio codecs, compression of audio files is necessary to


guarantee bandwidth and storage limits aren’t exceeded. Audio compression can be either
lossy or lossless, MP3 being the most ubiquitous lossy codec. FLAC is a major lossless
encoding format.

 Video Compression:

Videos combine image compression with audio compression. There are


usually separate codecs for each aspect of a video, which are then wrapped together as
a single compression codec. Because of the high data rate required for uncompressed
video, most video files are compressed using lossy compression. The most prevalent
form of (lossy) video compression is MPEG.

Why Data Compression is Important

The main advantages of compression are reductions in storage hardware, data


transmission time, and communication bandwidth. This can result in significant cost savings.
Compressed files require significantly less storage capacity than uncompressed files, meaning
a significant decrease in expenses for storage. A compressed file also requires less time for
transfer while consuming less network bandwidth. This can also help with costs, and also
increases productivity.

The main disadvantage of data compression is the increased use of computing


resources to apply compression to the relevant data. Because of this, compression vendors
prioritize speed and resource efficiency optimizations in order to minimize the impact of
intensive compression tasks.

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