The Data compression reference article from the Simple Wikipedia on 01-May-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Data compression

Data compression means making data take up less space on a disk. Some reasons why data is compressed include making it easier to download with modems, make it fit on floppy disks and to make it easier to archive. Pictures and Movies often have parts remove that the eye does not notice. This is known as "lossy" compression and is effective due to human limitations.

There are many different ways to compress data. The most common way is known as "zipping" data. You can also "unzip" data to use it again.

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