kompressionsformat

A kompressionsformat is a specification for encoding data to reduce its size, typically involving a defined algorithm and data layout that allows the original information to be reconstructed. Compression formats may include a wrapper or container that holds metadata, checksums, and sometimes multiple streams. They can be classified as lossless, where every bit of the original data can be recovered, or lossy, where some information is discarded to achieve higher compression.

A key distinction is between pure compression formats and container or archiving formats. Lossless compression formats such as Deflate (used in gzip and ZIP), LZMA (used in 7z), and Zstandard focus on shrinking data without loss. Container formats or archives (for example ZIP and TAR.GZIP) bundle compressed streams and may add metadata, file tables, and integrity checks. Media formats also act as compression formats for specific data types: lossless examples include FLAC (audio) and PNG (images), while lossy examples include MP3 or AAC (audio) and JPEG or WebP (images). Video and audio often use a compression format to encode the stream, typically combined with a separate container that carries metadata and multiple streams.

Technical characteristics commonly associated with kompressionsformat include the use of headers or signatures to identify the format, support for error detection, and trade-offs between compression ratio, speed, and resource usage. Compatibility and licensing influence adoption, as some formats are openly standardized, while others are proprietary. In practice, the choice of compression format depends on the use case, such as archival storage, web delivery, streaming, or multimedia production.