what is the difference between encoding and compression?

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HowToHB
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:13 am

what is the difference between encoding and compression?

Post by HowToHB »

what is the difference between encoding and compression? are they the same thing?

not all forms of encoding are compression but all forms of compression are encoding? or do i have it backwards? or am i wrong?

thank you
Woodstock
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Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: what is the difference between encoding and compression?

Post by Woodstock »

You can encode a video without compressing it, but generally you do it to make it smaller (compressing). 99.99% the same thing.
Lostless
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Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 7:55 pm

Re: what is the difference between encoding and compression?

Post by Lostless »

Think of encoding as "make file format". Compression is "make file smaller". You can encode with or without compression
Lostless
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Re: what is the difference between encoding and compression?

Post by Lostless »

Think of a picture on your computer. If it's encoded as a bitmap image, there is no compression leading to larger file size. A jpeg would be an encoding that compresses the file to shrink the file size. compression can be lossy, where information about the picture/video/audio is thown out to represent a close approximation of the original file. Or compression can be lostless where no information is thrown out, but uses math to represent the file in shorter terms.
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