= Rate-distortion theory
{wiki=Rate–distortion_theory}
<Rate-distortion theory> asks how much <mutual information> must survive when a representation may lose detail. <Lossy compression> groups different inputs into one reconstruction; a <distortion measure> specifies which differences matter. The <rate-distortion function> then gives a quantitative tradeoff between allowed <expected distortion> and the required number of <bits>. A smaller file is useful only if its reconstruction retains the distinctions that the application needs.
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