> If anyone else is excited by fractals etc. have a look at
>
> http://www.iterated.com/
>
> They have created a new image format which uses the method of fractal
> compression to make image files so small, you no longer need to wait yonks
> for graphics to download from the internet. It compresses image files by
> a factor of 50:1
I don't have a web browser on me at the moment, so I can't look at the web
site, but there are a couple of things you should think about. Last I
heard, fractal compression was very good at compressing scenes that had
recursive patterns in them, i.e. fractals. The thing about fractals is
they don't take much information to transfer them anyway. On images (or
data) that doesn't have this property - including most data files your
would which to move and most pictures, fractal compression works no
better, and often worse then normal techniques.
Now this was from some researchers about two years ago, and things might
be better now, but I wouldn't go investing in a fractal compression
company just yet.
> I'll just type it again in case you think it was a typo - 50:1
>
> This compression method can be used (I have heard) to compress data files
> up to 200 times smaller ie. you could fit a whole encyclopedia onto a floppy
> disk. The only problem is that the algorithm to extract the real data is
> almost purely iterative and you could be waiting a long time for a 100k
> file to decompress to a 5 megabyte file.
Sorry, this wouldn't work (IMHO). There are theoretical limits to how far
you can push lossless compression (which is what you want for data, not
images). An encyclopedia isn't fractal in nature (self similar at
different scales), hence would not compress using this technique.
> Still, have a look at the demos provided at the site.
I intend to. This kind of stuff may not be generally applicable, but for
specific applications it works amazingly.
Scott Hopwood 'When all else fails, consult an oracle.
(02) 351-6098 Usually, the best place to track one down
shopwood@nospam.staff.cs.su.oz.au is at the bottom of a glass of red.'
shopwood@nospam.socs.uts.edu.au