 - 1) In communications engineering, the term codec
is used in reference to integrated circuits, or chips
that perform data conversion. In this context,
the term is an acronym for "coder/decoder." This type of
codec combines analog-to-digital conversion and digital-to-analog conversion functions in a single chip. In personal and
business computing applications, the most common use for such a
device is in a modem.
2) The term codec is also an acronym that stands
for "compression/decompression."
A codec is an algorithm,
or specialized computer program, that reduces the number of bytes
consumed by large files and programs.
In order to minimize the amount of storage space
required for a complicated file, such as a video, compression is
used. Compression works by eliminating redundancies in data.
Compression can be done for any kind of file, including text,
programs, images, audio, video, and virtual reality (VR).
Compression can reduce the size of a file by a factor of 100 or
more in some cases. For example, a 15-megabyte video might be
reduced to 150 kilobytes. The uncompressed file would be far too
large to download from the Web in a reasonable length of time,
but the compressed file could usually be downloaded in a few
seconds. For viewing, a decompression algorithm, which
"undoes" the compression, would have to be used.
There are numerous standard codec schemes. Some
are used mainly to minimize file transfer time, and are employed
on the Internet. Others are intended to maximize the data that
can be stored in a given amount of disk space, or on a CD-ROM.
Codecs are used in many popular Internet products, including QuickTime, Netmeeting, Cu-Seeme, and VDOphone.
| CONTRIBUTORS: |
Angie D. Graves, Euibeom Hwang and Tom Ottavi |
| LAST UPDATED: |
20 Jul 2005
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