pixel sort

n.

[Commodore users] Any compression routine which irretrievably loses valuable data in the process of crunching it. Disparagingly used for ‘lossy’ methods such as JPEG. The theory, of course, is that these methods are only used on photographic images in which minor loss-of-data is not visible to the human eye. The term pixel sort implies distrust of this theory. Compare bogo-sort.