Compression

Compression may refer to:

In physical science

• Compression (physical), the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress
• Compression member, a class of structural elements, of which a column is the most common specific example
• Compressibility, a measure of volume change resulting from pressure
• Gas compression, raising the pressure and reducing the volume of gases
• Compression ratio, a figure of merit of an internal-combustion engine
• Compression (geology), a system of forces that tend to decrease the volume of rocks

In information science

• Data compression, the process of encoding digital information using fewer bits
• Audio compression (data), the compression of digital audio streams and files
• Bandwidth compression, a reduction in either the time to transmit or in the amount of bandwidth required to transmit
• Compression artifact, noticeable defects in audio or video that has been compressed
• Image compression, the application of data compression on digital images
• Video compression, the compression of digital video streams and files
• Dynamic range compression, a compression process that reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal
• One-way compression function, a cryptographic primitive

In engineering

• Gain compression, in electronic amplifiers, a reduction in differential or slope gain resulting from device non-linearity

In medicine

• Brain compression, a potentially fatal condition where pressure is exerted on the brain by internal bleeding
• Compression bandage, a bandage that uses compression to reduce the flow of blood
• Compression in pyelography involves pressing on the lower abdominal area, resulting in distension of the upper urinary tract.

In mathematics

• Compression (functional analysis), the compression of a linear operator "T" on a Hilbert space to a subspace "K" is the operator

Other

• Compression (phonetics), running syllables together in informal speech
• Compression (zoology) when an animal, or part of an animal, is shorter or narrower compared with other animals in the same group; e.g. the body of a lizard may be "compressed" (flattened) so it can better fit into crevices under rocks

See also

• Compaction (disambiguation)
• compress
• Compression shorts
• Compressor (disambiguation)
• Decompression (disambiguation)
• Expansion (disambiguation)