Deltanotationen

Deltanotationen, also known as delta notation or delta coding, is a data compression technique that stores the differences between consecutive data points rather than the raw data itself. This method is particularly effective for data streams where values tend to change incrementally, such as sensor readings, time-series data, or audio signals.

The core principle of Deltanotationen is to calculate the difference, or "delta," between the current data point and the previous one. This delta value is then stored. When reconstructing the data, the original values are retrieved by adding the delta values sequentially to the initial data point. For example, if a sequence starts with 100 and the deltas are +5, -2, and +3, the reconstructed sequence would be 100, 105 (100 + 5), 103 (105 - 2), and 106 (103 + 3).

The effectiveness of Deltanotationen relies on the assumption that the delta values will be smaller in magnitude than the original data points. If the data changes significantly between points, the delta values can become large, negating the compression benefits. Therefore, this technique is often used in conjunction with other compression methods that can further reduce the size of the delta values. It is a lossless compression method, meaning no data is lost during the compression and decompression process. Deltanotationen is a fundamental concept in signal processing and data storage optimization.