DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform)

The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is a mathematical process used to convert signals, like images or sounds, into a sum of basic wave-like components called cosine waves. It helps identify which parts of the signal contain the most important information. In images, DCT highlights areas with significant details while compressing less important parts, making data size smaller without much quality loss. This process is essential in image and video compression formats, such as JPEG, allowing efficient storage and transmission by focusing on the most visually relevant components.