Skip to main content Accessibility help
Internet Explorer 11 is being discontinued by Microsoft in August 2021. If you have difficulties viewing the site on Internet Explorer 11 we recommend using a different browser such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Mozilla Firefox.

Chapter 11: Fundamentals of Compression

Chapter 11: Fundamentals of Compression

pp. 124-140

Authors

, International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, California, , University of California, Irvine
Resources available Unlock the full potential of this textbook with additional resources. There are free resources available for this textbook. Explore resources
  • Add bookmark
  • Cite
  • Share

Summary

A major difference between multimedia data and most other data is its size. Images and audio files take much more space than text, for example. Video data is currently the single largest network bandwidth and hard disk space consumer. Compression was, therefore, among the first issues researchers in the emerging multimedia field sought to address. In fact, multimedia’s history is closely connected to different compression algorithms because they served as enabling technologies for many applications. Even today, multimedia signal processing would not be possible without compression methods. A Blu-ray disc can currently store 50 Gbytes, but a ninety-minute movie in 1,080p HDTV format takes about 800 Gbytes (without audio). So how does it fit on the disc? The answer to many such problems is compression.

This chapter discusses the underlying mathematical principles of compression algorithms, from the basics to advanced techniques. However, all the techniques outlined in this chapter belong to the family of lossless compression techniques; that is, the original data can be reconstructed bit by bit. Lossless compression techniques are applicable to all kinds of data, including non-multimedia data. However, these techniques are not always effective with all types of data. Therefore, subsequent chapters will introduce lossy compression techniques that are usually tailored to a specific type of data, for example, image or sound files.

About the book

Access options

Review the options below to login to check your access.

Purchase options

eTextbook
US$98.00
Hardback
US$98.00

Have an access code?

To redeem an access code, please log in with your personal login.

If you believe you should have access to this content, please contact your institutional librarian or consult our FAQ page for further information about accessing our content.

Also available to purchase from these educational ebook suppliers