Byte
the standard fundamental unit (or "chunk size") underlying most computing systems today
Lossless Compression
a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.
Heuristic
a problem solving approach (algorithm) to find a satisfactory solution where finding an optimal or exact solution is impractical or impossible.
Zip Compression
there is a compression algorithm called LZW compression upon which the common utility is based. This does something very similar to what you did today with the text compression widget.
Image
a type of data used for graphics or pictures.
Metadata
data that describes other data. For example, a digital image my include metadata that describe the size of the image, number of colors, or resolution.
Pixel
short for "picture element"; it is the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot which contains a single point of color of a larger image
RGB
the color model uses varying intensities of (R)ed, (G)reen, and (B)lue light are added together in to reproduce a broad array of colors.
Lossy Compression
a data compression method that uses inexact approximations, discarding some data to represent the content. Most commonly seen in image formats like .jpg.
Uncompressed Image
BMP
Uncompressed Sound
WAV
Compressed Image -Lossy
JPEG
Compressed Image - Lossless (256 color limit)
GIF
Compressed Sound - Lossy
MP3
Compressed Files - Lossless
ZIP
Compressed Image - Lossless
PNG