资料来源 : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

run-length encoding
     
        A kind of {compression} {algorithm} which replaces sequences
        ("runs") of consecutive repeated characters (or other units of
        data) with a single character and the length of the run.  This
        can either be applied to all input characters, including runs
        of length one, or a special character can be used to introduce
        a run-length encoded group.  The longer and more frequent the
        runs are, the greater the compression that will be achieved.
        This technique is particularly useful for encoding black and
        white {image}s where the data units would be single bit
        {pixel}s.
     
        (1994-10-27)