Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for compressing and/or transmitting and/or receiving data representing different views of an object. In one method according to the present invention, the method stores a plurality of frames of an object wherein each of these frames represents a view of the object. The method then assigns a reference number to each of these frames, arranges these frames in a preferred layout, divides the preferred layout into a plurality of blocks having frames sharing spatial similarities, and compresses each of these blocks separately.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for compressing and/or transmitting and/or receiving data representing different views of an object. In one method according to the present invention, the method stores a plurality of frames of an object wherein each of these frames represents a view of the object. The method then assigns a reference number to each of these frames, arranges these frames in a preferred layout, divides the preferred layout into a plurality of blocks having frames sharing spatial similarities, and compresses each of these blocks separately.

Abstract: A direct vent gas fireplace has an angled flue pipe that can be directed horizontally out of the back of the fireplace or vertically out of the top of the fireplace, a baffle that conceals an exhaust opening in the back of the fireplace heat chamber from view while minimizing shielding of the firebox panels surrounding the fireplace heat chamber, and an air column that directly channels venting air from the flue pipe downwardly across the back panel of the firebox to an air inlet adjacent to the bottom of the firebox.

Abstract: A fireplace has a firebox with a controllable outside air vent to provide a source of cooler air for mixing with and modulating the temperature of the air heated by the fireplace. The air vent is vertically formed between a combustion chamber and a surrounding shell so that a convective current causes the air to flow therethrough and pass over the top surface of the combustion chamber to keep it cooler than otherwise possible with heated room air. Convective currents in another air duct formed between the shell and the combustion chamber circulates room air around the combustion chamber to transfer heat to the room air. The warmed outside air and room air mixes in a plenum above the fireplace prior to entering the room, thereby modulating the temperature of the heated air and permitting it to burn without excessively heating the room. A damper regulates the flow of outside air into the air vent, as desired.