1. What is compression?

Compression, sometimes known as "packing," refers to the creation of a smaller file from a larger file (or group of files). Alternatively, from Webopedia, compression is "storing data in a format that requires less space than usual." 2. Why compression? a. Storage - Compressed files take up less space. b. Speed/efficiency - In many cases smaller files can be executed or read in less time. c. Bandwidth/transfer time - Smaller files take less time to download/upload. 3. Different tactics: Lossless and Lossy compression 1. Lossless Compression - No data (in a technical sense) is lost. Therefore, the compression process is reversible. 2. Lossy Compression - Some data is lost during compression. This process is irreversible. Lossy compression generally creates smaller files than lossless compression. However, many types of files cannot undergo lossy compression without losing functionality - once they're compressed, you must to be able to decompress them in order to read them. In these cases, lossless compression can be used to store smaller files, and the file can be expanded when a person needs to be access it. 4. How does compression work? . COmpression DECompression algorithms - CODECs Codecs are mathematical formulas used to compress or decompress files. Several different compression utilities may use the same codec. a. Redundancy - The term redundancy is used to encompass a great deal. Visual and audio redundancy are usually used to describe the visual or auditory information beyond what an individual can distinguish. For example, the human eye on average can only distinguish a certain number of colors. Several image compression formats take advantage of this to get rid of "extra" color information that a person would not be able to see. All computer files are comprised characters (letters, numbers, and symbols). Every character that we see is actually read by the computer as a string of several characters. This can create "redundant" information. For example, the string AAADDDDDEE can be reduced to 3A5D2E. 5. Examples of compression formats & encoding . JPEG - From the JPEG FAQ, "JPEG (pronounced "jay-peg") is a standardized image compression mechanism. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the original name of the committee that wrote the standard." JPEG uses lossy compression to remove redundant visual data. JPEG files usually end with the .jpeg or .jpg extension. a. MPEG - MPEG is short for Moving Pictures Expert Group. MPEG is actually used to refer to several standards for various types of files, including video

(MPEG) and Audio (MPEG Layer 3, or MP3). Video compression is done by storing only the changes from one video frame to another rather than storing entire frames. MPEG extensions include .mpg (for movies) and .mp3 (for music files). b. Zip/tar - Zip and Tar files use lossless compression to remove redundant data from a file. Files that have been zipped or tarred must be unzipped or untarred before they can be read. Extensions are .zip and .tar respectively. c. BinHex - BinHex is a format which is used to both encode and compress files. This format is most popular on the Macintosh, although there are programs on other platforms that can read it. Eudora on any platform can read these files. BinHex files end with the .hqx extension. ENCODING - Files on a computer are typically of two types: ASCII and binary. ASCII refers to printable characters, including numbers, letters, and punctuation. Text editors can open an ASCII file and the screen should display the exact contents of the file. Binary files are comprised of ones and zeros. Most files, including Word documents and images, are in binary format. You need a specific program in order to read them. If you open them up in a regular text editor, you will see senseless symbols. Email and Usenet were designed for text-only (ASCII) files. So, several email programs (such as Eudora) can convert - or "encode" - a file containing binary information into ASCII so it can be emailed. After this process the file must be decoded at the receiving end. 6. Examples of compression software Several programs use compression as part of their regular functionality. For example, Photoshop or Fireworks allow you to save their formats as smaller GIF or JPG files. . WinZip - can both compress (zip) files and decompress zipped files. a. Stuffit Expander - can decode and uncompress binhex files. b. Mr. Sid 7. So how do I use these things? You may already use them. Saving files in different formats can compress files. Eudora can be set to send files in the BinHex and automatically decompresses BinHex files. You can also download a program (such as WinZip) to zip files yourself