Exhaustive Data Compressor Comparison

crazyeyes writes "This is easily the best article I've seen comparing data compression software. The author tests 11 compressors: 7-zip, ARJ32, bzip2, gzip, SBC Archiver, Squeez, StuffIt, WinAce, WinRAR, WinRK, and WinZip. All are tested using 8 filesets: audio (WAV and MP3), documents, e-books, movies (DivX and MPEG), and pictures (PSD and JPEG). He tests them at different settings and includes the aggregated results. Spoilers: WinRK gives the best compression but operates slowest; AJR32 is fastest but compresses least."

Comments

duh

[Gen. Malaise]

Nothing to see. High compression = slow and low compression = fast. umm duh?

Re:duh

[setirw]

High compression = slow and low compression = fast

You compressed the article into that statement. How long did it take to write the comment?

Re:duh

[dotgain]

So you alreay knew WinRK gave the best compression? I didn't; never even heard of it.

Well thank heavens we have now! If there's one area of computing I've always felt I wasn't getting enough variety, it's compression algorithms and the associated apps needed to operate with them.

If there's one thing that brightens my day, is a client sending me a PDF compressed with "Hey-boss-I-fucked-your-wife-ZIP" right on deadline.

Re:duh

[h2g2bob]

Oh, if only they'd compressed the article onto a single page!

Re:duh

[MillionthMonkey]

Server Error in '/' Application.
Server Too Busy
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException: Server Too Busy
Source Error: An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.
Stack Trace:
[HttpException (0x80004005): Server Too Busy]
      System.Web.HttpRuntime.RejectRequestInternal(HttpW orkerRequest wr) +148
Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2300; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2300

Someone should write an article about how you should always replace your default error screens and remove information identifying your server software and version.

Re:duh

[edwardaux]

High compression = slow and low compression = fast

You compressed the article into that statement. How long did it take to write the comment?

Meh, that's not compression.

2@Bcompression = #4low High @s#and #@fast

41 vs 50 chars. Clearly an 18% improvement :-)

--
edwardaux

WOW!

[vertigoCiel]

I never would have guessed that there was a tradeoff between the quality and speed of compression! No way! Next they'll be saying things like 1080p HD offers quality at the expense of computational power required!

small = slow

[Anonymous Coward]

So that's why smaller computers are slower, right?

I keep it simple

[Anonymous Coward]

I fill an old station wagon with backup tapes, and then put it in the crusher.

Re:/. effect rears its ugly head once again!

[killa62]

yep, looks like they're using WinRK on the fly to decompress the website from storage

english language is mostly fluff

[Blue Shifted]

the most interesting thing about text compression is that there is only about 20% information in the english language (or less). yes, that means that 4/5ths of it is meaningless filler. filled up with repetitive patterns. as you can see, i really didn't need four sentences to tell you that, either.

i wonder how other languages compare, and if there is a way to communicate much more efficiently.

Re: english language is mostly fluff

[Sketch]

Your response is 50% larger than necessary

Re:What about LHA, TAR

[SirSlud]

TAR for compression? I woulda thought you were trolling if you didn't have LHA up there. Too bad you're anonymous, you'll never get to find out how unqualified you are for participating in this discussion.

Re:L-Zip

[Anonymous Coward]

The L-Zip project at http://lzip.sourceforge.net/ seems to be down right now but it should be included in any file compression comparison. It could reduce files to 0% of their original size and it was quick too.

It was so good at what it did that I bet Microsoft bought them out and are going to incorperate the technology into Windows.

Re:This is nothing new

[Starburnt]

So they've compressed it to 11. I'd say that's a step forward.

Re:rar?

[Petrushka]

I take it you come from a planet where very few people use Windows. Please, I'm curious to know, what are things like there?

How about

[DrSkwid]

Give it am MD5 hash and a file length and it will compute all the possible files that could have produced the hash. Automatically filter our the invalid files and the set you're left with can't be that large.

Don't forget not to go too far

[gr8dude]

This reminds me of... pkunzip.zip

Re:ATTN: SWITCHEURS!

[wdnsdy]

*imagines parent comment spoken in the voice of comicbook store guy off the simpsons* . . .

heh

Here on Non-Windows planet

[DrYak]

Please, I'm curious to know, what are things like there?

Things are less blue.
(And I'm not speaking of the sky)