Which statement describes lossless compression?

Which statement describes lossless compression?

• A. Data is not preserved and may lose information.
• B. The compression applies only to images.
• C. Data is preserved; size is reduced without losing information.
• D. It increases the file size.

Answer: (C)

Lossless compression reduces a file’s size while keeping every piece of information intact, so you can reconstruct the exact original data from the compressed form. That’s why the statement describing data preservation with size reduction and no loss of information is the correct description. In practice, formats like ZIP or PNG exemplify this: you can decompress and get back the exact original file. The other ideas don’t fit because losing information describes lossy compression, compression isn’t limited to images, and increasing file size defeats the purpose of compression.

Lossless compression reduces a file’s size while keeping every piece of information intact, so you can reconstruct the exact original data from the compressed form. That’s why the statement describing data preservation with size reduction and no loss of information is the correct description. In practice, formats like ZIP or PNG exemplify this: you can decompress and get back the exact original file. The other ideas don’t fit because losing information describes lossy compression, compression isn’t limited to images, and increasing file size defeats the purpose of compression.