LiDAR Compressor - FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

G090711 - When you say “lossy” what do you mean? What are the artifacts I’ll see at high compression?

If storage requirements are critical, you can reduce your LiDAR file sizes by 90 percent or more by choosing a higher compression ratio (than “lossless”) and letting LiDAR Compressor reduce point accuracy to reach a desired file size. That’s “lossy” compression.

When you compress your files at higher compression ratios, you won’t see any points being “thrown out” of the dataset. Instead, you’ll see points start to shift towards more of a “gridded” output. While this reduces accuracy somewhat, it also allows you to create LiDAR files that are a mere fraction of their original size.

This article was last updated or verified on 4 August 2012.