Information AboutWavpack |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WAVPACK | |
| computer file formats | |
| audio codecs | |
| free audio software | |
| free multimedia codecs, containers, and splitters | |
| lossless compression algorithms | |
WavPack is a Free , Open Source Lossless Audio Compression Format developed by David Bryant. FEATURES WavPack compression (.WV files) can compress (and restore) 8, 16, 24 & 32-bit float audio files in the . WAV file format. It also supports Surround Sound streams and high frequency Sampling Rate s. Like other lossless compression schemes the data reduction rate varies with the source, but it is generally between 30% and 70% for typical popular music and somewhat better than that for classical music and other sources with greater dynamic range. WavPack also incorporates a "hybrid" mode that provides all the advantages of lossless compression with an additional bonus: Instead of creating a single file, this mode creates both a relatively small, high-quality lossy file(.wv) that can be used all by itself, and a "correction" file(.wvc) that (when combined with the lossy file) provides full lossless restoration. This allows getting the advantages of both lossy and lossless codecs together, and this feature is offered only by this codec and by OptimFROG DualStream . Summary
HISTORY David Bryant started development on WavPack in mid-1998, with the release of version 1.0. This first version compressed and decompressed audio losslessly, nothing else, but by then it already featured one of the best efficiency vs. speed ratio among lossless encoders. Very soon after the release of version 1.0, v. 2.0 was released, featuring lossy encoding (using only quantization of prediction residue for data reduction - no Psychoacoustic Masking Model was applied to the stream). In 1999, version 3.0 was released, featuring novelties such as a fast mode (with reduced compression ratio), compression of raw (headerless) PCM audio files, and error detection using a 32-bit Cyclic Redundancy Check . WavPack development is still going on, and a major feature added in late 3.x versions is the hybrid mode, where the encoder generates a lossy file + a correction file, so that both can be decompressed back to the original PCM stream. The current major release of WavPack is version 4. It now includes features as fast seeking, multichannel support, high resolution audio support, etc., making it a modern and feature-rich lossless audio compressors. The latest stable version of the 4.x branch is 4.40, which improves handling of mono or almost-mono audio data and features a redesigned quality system which offers very similar compression with greatly-improved efficiency. {Link without Title} A "roadmap" is also published by the author, containing possible hint on future development. {Link without Title} SUPPORT Software
Hardware
TECHNOLOGY To ensure high-speed operation, WavPack uses a very simple predictor that is implemented entirely in integer math. In its "fast" mode the prediction is simply the arithmetic extrapolation of the previous two samples. For example, if the previous two samples were -10 and 20, then the prediction would be 50. For the default mode a simple adaptive factor is added to weigh the influence of the earlier sample on the prediction. In our example the resulting prediction could then vary between 20 for no influence to 50 for full influence. This weight factor is constantly updated based on the audio data's changing spectral characteristics, which is why it is called "adaptive". The prediction generated is then subtracted from the actual sample to be encoded to generate the error value. In mono mode this value is sent directly to the coder. However, Stereo signals tend to have some correlation between the two channels that can be further exploited. Therefore, two error values are calculated that represent the difference and average of the left and right error values. In the "fast" mode of operation these two new values are simply sent to the coder instead of the left and right values. In the default mode, the difference value is always sent to the coder along with one of the other three values (average, left, or right). An adaptive algorithm continuously determines the most efficient of the three to send based on the changing balance of the channels. Instead of Rice Coding , a special data encoder for WavPack is used. Rice Coding is the optimal bit coding for this type of data, and WavPack's encoder is less efficient, but only by about 0.15 bits/sample (or less than 1% for 16-bit data). However, there are some advantages in exchange; the first one is that WavPack's encoder does not require the data to be buffered ahead of encoding, instead it converts each sample directly to bitcodes. This is more computationally efficient and it is better in some applications where coding delay is critical. The second advantage is that it is easily adaptable to lossy encoding because all significant bits (except the implied "one" MSB ) are transmitted directly. In this way it is possible to only transmit, for example, the 3 most significant bits (with sign) of each sample. In fact, it is possible to transmit only the sign and implied MSB for each sample with an average of only 3.65 bits/sample. This coding scheme is used to implement the "lossy" mode of WavPack. In the "fast" mode the output of the non-adaptive decorrelator is simply rounded to the nearest codable value for the specified number of bits. In the default mode the adaptive decorrelator is used (which reduces the average noise about 1 DB ) and also both the current and the next sample are considered in choosing the better of the two available codes (which reduces noise another 1 dB). No Floating-point arithmetic is used in WavPack's data path, because Integer operations are reputed by the author less susceptible to subtle chip-to-chip variations that could corrupt the lossless nature of the compression, the Pentium Floating Point Bug being a blatant example of this. It is possible that a lossless compressor that used floating-point math could generate different output when running on that faulty Pentium. Even disregarding actual bugs, floating-point math is complicated enough that there could be subtle differences between "correct" implementations that could cause trouble for this type of application. To further ensure confidence in the integrity of WavPack's compression, the encoder includes a 32-bit error detection code to the generated streams. WavPack source code is portable, and has been compiled on several Unix and Unix-like operating systems ( Linux , Mac OS X , Solaris , FreeBSD , OpenBSD , NetBSD , Compaq Tru64 , HP-UX ...) as well as Windows , DOS , Palm OS , and OpenVMS . It works on many architectures, including X86 , ARM , PowerPC , AMD64 , IA-64 , SPARC , DEC Alpha , PA-RISC , MIPS and Motorola 68k . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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