Abstract: A method for automatically configuring peripheral devices performs a device assessment resulting in a list of available peripheral devices currently connected to the computer, calculates a configuration setting value from the list, and compares the configuration setting value to other values in a settings repository. If there is a match, then a prior selection of the peripheral devices is automatically restored. If there is no match, then devices are automatically selected from among the available peripheral devices in accordance with a predetermined devices database. The devices database includes possible devices and corresponding priority ranks for the possible devices. In addition, the computed configuration setting value is saved together with a current device selection in the settings repository.

Abstract: A method for automatically Configuring peripheral devices performs a device assessment resulting in a list of available peripheral devices currently connected to the computer, calculates a configuration setting value from the list, and compares the configuration setting value to other values in a settings repository. If there is a match, then a prior selection of the peripheral devices is automatically restored. If there is no match, then devices are automatically selected from among the available peripheral devices in accordance with a predetermined devices database. The devices database includes possible devices and corresponding priority ranks for the possible devices. In addition, the computed configuration setting value is saved together with a current device selection in the settings repository.

Abstract: A picture data compressing device has picture data divided by a blocking circuit 1 in to a plurality of blocks, each block consisting of a pre-set number of pixels and shuffled by a shuffling circuit 2. The blocked and shuffled data is transformed by a DCT circuit 3 into data in the frequency domain and re-quantized by a quantization circuit 4, thereby compressing the picture data. A red detector 6 determines whether a block from the shuffling circuit 2 is the red-based block. If the red detector 6 detects a red-based block, a controller 7 controls the quantization circuit 4 so that the quantization step of the quantization circuit 4 will become finer. Thus, the data of the red-based block susceptible to block distortion may be quantized with a finer quantization step for improving reproduction and alleviating block distortion.