Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

This chapter provides a general overview of compression. Different types of compression as well as performance measures for compression algorithms are discussed.

Keywords

Lossless compression; Lossy compression; Distortion; Modeling

Peta, exa, zetta, yotta,1 the number of bytes of data, stored, processed, and transmitted keeps soaring, and in the process, keeps transforming our world. This transformation includes the ever-present, ever-growing Internet; the explosive development of mobile communications; and the ever-increasing importance of video communication. Data compression is one of the enabling technologies for each of these aspects of the multimedia revolution. It would not be practical to put ...

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