S2TC (short for Super Simple Texture Compression) is a

texture compression Texture compression is a specialized form of image compression designed for storing texture maps in 3D computer graphics rendering systems. Unlike conventional image compression algorithms, texture compression algorithms are optimized for random ...

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

based on Color Cell Compression. It is designed to be compatible with existing

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

S3TC S3 Texture Compression (S3TC) (sometimes also called DXTn, DXTC, or BCn) is a group of related lossy texture compression algorithms originally developed by Iourcha et al. of S3 Graphics, Ltd. for use in their Savage 3D computer graphics accelerat ...

decompressors while avoiding any need for patent licensing fees. According to the authors, compressed textures produced by a good S2TC implementation are similar in quality to compressed textures produced by a bad S3TC implementation. The S2TC

reference implementation In the software development process, a reference implementation (or, less frequently, sample implementation or model implementation) is a program that implements all requirements from a corresponding specification. The reference implementation ...

is also capable of decompressing S3TC compressed textures, but instead of implementing the patented aspects of the algorithm, the S2TC decompressor picks colors at random. S2TC was created to provide an alternative to S3TC for

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve ha ...

implementations which were legally constrained from implementing patented algorithms. Note, the patent expired on October 2, 2017. S3TC support has landed in Mesa since then.S3TC Support Lands in Mesa Git
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References

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External links

The S2TC wiki
Lossy compression algorithms Texture compression Free software