Image data encoding apparatus providing increased encoding efficiency with reduced dependency on image content

摘要

A data encoding apparatus, applicable for example to a facsimile apparatus, increases the degree of image data compression that can be achieved by a variable length encoding scheme, by limiting the maximum amount of data outputted from the encoding apparatus for each scan line to the amount of unencoded image data in a scan line. Generation of increased amounts of data in the case of certain types of image content, as a result of the variable length encoding, is thereby eliminated with a consequent increase in encoding efficiency.