14Compression

Compression is the process of reducing data in a digital signal by eliminating redundant information. This process reduces the amount of bandwidth required to transmit the data and the amount of storage space required to store it. Any type of digital data can be compressed. Reducing the required bandwidth permits more data to be transmitted at one time.

Compression can be divided into two categories: lossless and lossy. In lossless compression, the restored image is an exact duplicate of the original with no loss of data. In lossy compression, the restored image is an approximation, not an exact duplicate, of the original (Figure 14.1).

Lossless Compression

In lossless compression, the original data can be perfectly reconstructed ...

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