Update from the Standards Vice President: Compression

Abstract

<fig orientation="portrait" position="float" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <graphic orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="devli-3008590.tif"/> </fig> Compression (noun) is the act of making a computer file use less space when it is stored, using special software. <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">i</sup> I started my career in compression with some of my technology ending up in the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-2 standard through my French employer. At that time, we were fighting against the limitations of semiconductor physics to get enough processing and memory to do a good job. Today, we have limitless processing and limitless storage, and anything you can think of can be done with software. Unfortunately, there is no unlimited amount of money, nor is there an unlimited amount of power that can be deployed in every application. Compression still serves us well to reduce storage and network bandwidth as well as match the content’s representation to the application requirements.