openvino/docs/MO_DG/prepare_model/FP16_Compression.md

Compressing a Model to FP16

Model Optimizer can convert all floating-point weights to FP16 data type. The resulting IR is called compressed FP16 model.

To compress the model, use the --data_type option:

 mo --input_model INPUT_MODEL --data_type FP16

NOTE: Using --data_type FP32 will give no result and will not force FP32 precision in the model. If the model was FP16, it will have FP16 precision in IR as well.

The resulting model will occupy about twice as less space in the file system, but it may have some accuracy drop. The resulting model will occupy about half of the previous space in the file system, but lose some of its accuracy. For most models, the accuracy drop is negligible. For details on how plugins handle compressed FP16 models, see Working with devices.

NOTE: FP16 compression is sometimes used as the initial step for INT8 quantization. Refer to the Post-training optimization guide for more information about that.