LRC - Lossless Real-time Coding

 

 

With digital audio proliferating into today's consumer and multimedia applications, several real-time compression/decompression algorithms have been promoted which reduce the amount of media space required for storing an audio data stream. However, to achieve constant compression rates, these existing schemes sacrifice audio integrity, losing some of the information contained in the original audio signal.

Other techniques use lossless data compression algorithms to pack computer data files into smaller amounts of disk space, with completely accurate recovery of the primary data upon decompression. Unfortunately, these approaches are optimized for text and data files, and are only marginally effective in compressing audio files.

Merging`s Lossless Real-time Coding system - LRC - is the first compression/decompression technology to provide a scheme that is both lossless and real time for digital-audio data streams. LRC can provide data compression ratios of more than 3:1 in real time, depending on the audio source material, thus increasing media storage and track capacities, and providing faster backup and archiving for digital audio workstations and other professional digital audio applications.

The LRC system introduces absolutely no generation loss to the audio material it processes. LRC's decompressed output bit-stream is bit-for-bit identical to the original uncompressed audio data.

 

 LRC EVALUATION KIT

 

An LRC evaluation kit is available which includes:

  • A set of PC software disks with sample files of compressed and uncompressed versions of various types of audio material
  • HEARME, an application which can decompress files in real time for playback through a 16 bit PC sound card
  • Further technical documentation on the LRC algorithm.

 

 HEAR ME

 

"Hear Me" is designed to show both the instantaneous frame compression ratio achieved, and the average compression ratio since playback of a sound file began. For comparison purposes, uncompressed versions of the sample audio material are provided in the standard .wav format for playback through standard 16 bit PC sound cards.

"Hear Me" demonstrates decompression of LRC files in real time on a 486 or Pentium PC and a 16 bit Windows sound card.

 

 DOWNLOAD

 

Download the "Hear Me" demo application.

For more detailed information, download a zipped PDF document on LRC.