A method and apparatus for determining one or more compression parameters suitable to compress a class of signals, may include inputting a test data set, being representative of a data set to be compressed, characterizing the test data, selecting a compression algorithm, calculating a distortion level to be used in determining the compression ratio (or a compression ratio to be used in determining the distortion level), generating a computer implemented model for the test data, selecting a recommended operating point based on a computer implemented model, and determining compression parameters corresponding to the operating point. The compression parameters may subsequently be applied for configuration of compression applied to one or more production data sets that are similar to the test data. This abstract does not limit the scope of the invention as described in the claims.