I wanted to know how a raw file would compress, specially since D files are quite big (bigger than DS as you probably know). I tried a couple formats. My point was to know how it would compress the best, not taking speed into account !! Of course size will vary with the software you use and with options chosen.
Original PEF filesize: 14.222 KB Zipped (maximum): 8.686 KB RAR v2.5 (maximum): 8034 KB ACE v2.6 (maximum): 8630 KB 7-zip (LZMA algorithm, 32MB dictionary size, 128bytes word size): 7308KB I'm definitely impressed by 7-zip format. Although it is quite slow (with the mehtod and options I chose since speed was not important) it is way beter than others. RAR is a bit beter than Zip but I thought it'd do beter. ACE is both less effective than RAR (which took me as a surprise) and about as effective as ZIP which is definitely a huge surprise for me, I thought it'd be between RAR and 7-zip. So IMO, if I'd need to compress, I'd go either Zip (because pretty standard) or 7-zip (because best compression ration). I'll add that 7zip software and algorithm is fully Open Source (a Linux binary is also available). Lastly, do not forget that compression formats not only do compress but also do usually incorporate CRC and other ways of retreiving your data if damage went to files. If your PEF files or damaged, you're screwed. So maybe it is a good idea to backup your PEF files somewhere compressed? Just my 2 cents... ---------------------- Thibouille ---------------------- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
