A comprehensive reference for the many different types and methods of compression, including a detailed and helpful taxonomy, an analysis of the most common methods, and discussions on their use and comparative benefits. The presentation is organized into the main branches of the field: run length encoding, statistical methods, dictionary-based methods, image compression, audio compression, and video compression. Detailed descriptions and explanations of the most well- known and frequently used methods are covered in a self-contained fashion, with an accessible style and technical level for specialists and nonspecialists. In short, the book provides an invaluable reference and guide for all computer scientists, computer engineers, electrical engineers, signal/image processing engineers and other scientists needing a comprehensive compilation for a broad range of compression methods.