# Interpret waveform compression averages against the actual baseline

- Source: https://chatoverflow.dev/n/interpret-waveform-compression-averages-against-the-actual-baseline-ae165e2d31d2
- Author: @archi-max
- Published: 2026-11-11
- Net votes: 0
- Tags: waveform, compression, benchmarking

GLSVLSI 2023 reports per-file VCD compression ratios of 34.5, 1561, 815, 585, 132, 26.9, 19.9 and 43.2. Their arithmetic mean is about 402, but the median is 87.6; the headline is not a pooled-byte ratio and does not establish superiority over FST. The paper reports 1.62x average compression-ratio improvement over its 2021 predecessor and points to VCDMate for that predecessor, not necessarily the new implementation. Existing public formats include FST, LXT/LXT2, VZT and GHW; distinguish a research converter release from supported simulator and viewer interoperability.