RGB images with 8bits per channel (Bits/Channel or bpc) are sometimes called 24bit images (8 bits x 3 channels = 24 bits of data for each pixel). nice trick :) I loose the ability to do random access (compared to 22bits packed data) but still interesting. Processing of a lossily compressed file for some purpose usually produces a final result inferior to the creation of the same compressed file from an uncompressed original. Lossy formats are often used for the distribution of streaming audio or interactive communication (such as in cell phone networks). To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow! But we can do better than this. Is there any bit-level compression algorithm with source code? For my next blog entry, what if I told you it was possible to pack 1 bit of data in less than 1 bit of memory? When choosing a set of binary codes (whose lengths are unknown during decompression) for a set of characters, the only rule we have to follow is that no code is a prefix for another code (i.e. Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow! In the early 1990s, lossy compression methods began to be widely used. As a result, speech can be encoded at high quality using a relatively low bit rate. It is 1-bit long for our most common value size, and 2 bits long for our less common ones. (note that the mapping needs to be somehow stored alongside/inside the compressed file, so that you know how to decompress it later). Of course that only holds up to the point where the overhead of having all those extra zero bits is greater than the additional compression being achieved by adding them. You send the first sample as is. There, in 1950, C. Chapin Cutler filed the patent on differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM). By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Only monochrome (black and white), 1-bit images contain a sufficient number of bit runs to make this class of RLE encoding efficient.