Из zlib.h документации deflateInit2()
:
windowBits can also be -8..-15 for raw deflate. In this case, -windowBits
determines the window size. deflate() will then generate raw deflate data
with no zlib header or trailer, and will not compute a check value.
windowBits can also be greater than 15 for optional gzip encoding. Add
16 to windowBits to write a simple gzip header and trailer around the
compressed data instead of a zlib wrapper.