What is the history of the GiF format?
In 1984, while working for Sperry Corporation, Terry Welch modified the Lempel-Ziv 78 (LZ78) compression algorithm for greater efficiency for implementation in high-performance disk controllers. The result was the LZW algorithm. The world was informed of the existence of LZW by the following journal article, published by Mr. Welch after he left the employment of Sperry: Welch, T. A., “A Technique for High Performance Data Compression,” IEEE Computer, Volume 17, Number 6, June 1984. In 1985, Sperry Corporation was granted a patent (4,558,302) for the Welch invention and implementation of the LZW data compression algorithm. Since that time, this LZW patent has been publicly available for all to see in the US Patent Office and many public libraries, and is available through many on-line services. In 1987, CompuServe Corporation created the GIF (Graphical Interchange Format) file format to be used for the storage and on-line retrieval of bitmapped graphical data. The GIF specification requ
