Lossy data compression

A lossy data compression method is one where compressing data and then decompressing it retrieves data that may well be different to the original, but is "close enough" to be useful in some way. This type of compression is used frequently on the Internet and especially in streaming media and telephony applications. These methods are typically referred to as codecs in this context. Contrast with lossless data compression. Depending on the design of the format lossy data compression often suffers from generation loss, that is compressing and decompressing multiple times will do more damage to the data than doing it once.

Related Topics:
Data compression - Streaming media - Telephony - Codec - Lossless data compression - Generation loss

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