Rob Browning wrote:
>
> "James E. Fowler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > As far as I know, there is no such thing as an uncompressed GIF, since
> > the LZW compression algorithm is an integral and non-optional part of
> > the GIF format.
>
> Actually AFAIK, it is optional.
>
> Package: libungif-bin
OK, sorry, you are right. I didn't know that that kludge existed.
Actually, I'm only partly wrong, in that, the GIF file format *does*
dictate using non-optionally LZW compression. Therefore, the
"uncompressed GIF" kludge could be possibly viewed as a particularly bad
implementation of the LZW encoding algorithm, under which viewpoint, I
suppose, it could be considered to fall under the Unisys patent (given
how broadly these kind of patents are written, I would not be surprised
if a lawyer out there some could put together an argument supporting
that contention...). However, I admit that lossless compression
algorithms are not my speciality -- my realm of expertise lies in lossy
compression.
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