- PackBits
PackBits is a fast, simple lossless compression scheme for
run-length encoding of data.Apple introduced the PackBits format with the release of
MacPaint on the Macintosh computer. This compression scheme is one of the types of compression that can be used inTIFF -files,TGA -files also use this RLE compression scheme, but treats data stream as pixels instead of bytes.A PackBits data stream consists of packets with a one-byte header followed by data. The header is a signed byte; the data can be signed, unsigned, or packed (such as
MacPaint pixels).In the following table, "n" is the value of the header byte as a signed integer.
Note that interpreting 0 as positive or negative makes no difference in the output. Runs of two bytes adjacent to non-runs are typically written as literal data. It should also be noted that there is no way based on the PackBits data to determine the end of the data stream; that is to say, one must already know the size of the compressed or uncompressed data before reading a PackBits data stream to know where it ends.
External links
* [http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1023.html Apple webpage describing the PackBits format]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
