Image compression is a critical technique in digital technology[3], enabling efficient storage and transmission of images. This process involves reducing the size of an image file without significantly affecting its quality. Various techniques are used, including lossy and lossless methods, transform coding, color quantization, and more. The history of image compression dates back to the 1940s, with significant developments such as the introduction of the Discrete Cosine Transform in 1973 and the creation of JPEG[4] in 1992. There are also progressive compression techniques that improve user experience[2] by allowing images to load in stages. The field also encompasses issues such as JPEG copy protection, which seeks to prevent unauthorized use or alteration of images. Furthermore, there are various standards in image and other types of data compression, such as DEFLATE and JPEG2000 for images, H.261, H.262, H.263 for video, and G.711, G.726, G.729 for audio, which play a crucial role in ensuring interoperability[1].
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Image compression is a type of data compression applied to digital images, to reduce their cost for storage or transmission. Algorithms may take advantage of visual perception and the statistical properties of image data to provide superior results compared with generic data compression methods which are used for other digital data.