Editing Lossy compression (section)

===Transparency===
{{further|Transparency (data compression)}}
When a user acquires a lossily compressed file, (for example, to reduce download time) the retrieved file can be quite different from the original at the [[bit]] level while being indistinguishable to the human ear or eye for most practical purposes. Many compression methods focus on the idiosyncrasies of [[human physiology]], taking into account, for instance, that the human eye can see only certain wavelengths of light. The [[psychoacoustic model]] describes how sound can be highly compressed without degrading perceived quality. Flaws caused by lossy compression that are noticeable to the human eye or ear are known as [[compression artifact]]s.