What is Lossless Compression?
Lossless data compression is a class of data compression algorithms which allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data, that is, no data is removed from the original file during compression, and the uncompressed file will be identical to the original prior to compression. For audio archival purposes, if compression is to be used, lossless compression is considered by some to be at a minimum, preferable. Others consider it to be essential. Lossless compression contrasts with “lossy” data compression. During lossy compression, mp3 for example, data is removed and the decompressed file is not, and will never be, identical to the original. Compression rates with lossy compression are however much greater than those that can be achieved with lossless compression.
Lossless compression is a compression technique that does not lose any data in the compression process. Lossless compression “packs data” into a smaller file size by using a kind of internal shorthand to signify redundant data. If an original file is 1.5MB (megabytes), lossless compression can reduce it to about half that size, depending on the type of file being compressed. This makes lossless compression convenient for transferring files across the Internet, as smaller files transfer faster. Lossless compression is also handy for storing files as they take up less room. The zip convention, used in programs like WinZip, uses lossless compression. For this reason zip software is popular for compressing program and data files. That’s because when these files are decompressed, all bytes must be present to ensure their integrity. If bytes are missing from a program, it won’t run. If bytes are missing from a data file, it will be incomplete and garbled. GIF image files also use lossless co
Audio compression can be one of two categories, lossless or lossy. Lossless digital compression is commonly used to reduce the size of computer files for electronic transmission. In order for the files to be useable on a computer the files that are extracted from a compressed data file must be identical to the original file (before it was compressed). Lossless compression is great because it makes perfect copies but it doesn’t yield very high compression ratios. That means it doesn’t save huge amounts of disk storage space. ZIP, ARC, TAR, and SIT are some of the acronyms or formats of Lossless Compression commonly used on computers.
