LZW

File Format
Name	LZW
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Compression LZW
PRONOM	x-cmp/12

LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) is a widely used lossless compression algorithm used primarily for images. It is the compression scheme used in GIF and is frequently used in TIFF images. Developed by Terry Welch in 1984. All patents on the LZW algorithm worldwide have expired.

References

• A Technique for High-Performance Data Compression Welch, Terry A. Computer, Vol. 17, No. 6 (June 1984): pp. 8-19
• Lempel-Ziv-Welch : Wikipedia
• LZW Compression Encoding, from Library of Congress resource on Sustainability of Digital Formats
• LZW Revisited a 2011 update to an article by Mark Nelson written 20 years earlier.
• Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) Compression From Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats at FileFormat.Info (1996)