Anand Prakash 09104EN023

Digital Imaging
Abstract: With the advancement of software technology, the traditional photographical methods have been replaced by digital imaging. Digital imaging is more handy, efficient, easily transferrable and can be easily backed up. Digital image authentication is an important procedure used by health care organisations, law agencies and insurance agencies. This paper refers to the storage and the various file formats used in the storage of digital images. Introduction: The word image is used in the sense of any two-dimensional figure such as a map, a graph, a pie chart, an abstract painting or a photograph. In this wider sense, images can also be rendered manually, such as by drawing , painting , carving , rendered automatically by printing or computer graphics technology , or developed by a combination of methods , especially in a pseudo-photograph. Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of digital images, typically from a physical scene. The term is often assumed to imply or include the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images. The most usual method is by digital photography with a digital camera but other methods are also employed. Digital imaging was developed in the 1960s and 1970s, largely to avoid the operational weaknesses of film cameras, for scientific and military missions. As digital technology became cheaper in later decades it replaced the old film methods for many purposes. A digital photograph may be created directly from a physical scene by a camera or similar device. A digital image can also be computed from a geometric model or mathematical formula. In this case the name image synthesis is more appropriate, and it is more often known as rendering. The building block of any digital image is a pixel. An array of integers specified by pixel, in the default RGB color model to produce data for an image.

In the default color model , a pixel is an integer with Alpha , Red , Green and Blue (0xAARRGGBB). The Alpha value represents a degree of transparency for the pixel. Fully transparent is 0 (00H) and fully opaque is 255 (FFH). The different proportions of Red , Green and Blue constitute the different colors needed for the image. Image file size expressed as the number of bytes which increases with the number of pixels composing an image, and the colour depth of the pixels. The greater the number of rows and columns, the greater the image resolution , and the larger the file. Also, each pixel of an image increases in size when its colour depth increasesan 8-bit pixel (1 byte) stores 256 colors, a 24-bit pixel (3 bytes) stores 16 million colors , the latter known as truecolor. Major graphic file formats: Raster formats These formats store images as bitmaps (also known as pixmaps). JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a compression method; JPEGcompressed images are usually stored in the JFIF (JPEG File Interchange Format) file format. JPEG compression is (in most cases) lossy compression. The JPEG/JFIF filename extension is JPG or JPEG. Nearly every digital camera can save images in the JPEG/JFIF format, which supports 8 bits per color (red, green, blue) for a 24-bit total, producing relatively small files. The JPEG/JFIF format also is used as the image compression algorithm in many PDF files. JPEG 2000 is a compression standard enabling both lossless and lossy storage. The compression methods used are different from the ones in standard JFIF/JPEG; they improve quality and compression ratios, but also require more computational power to process. JPEG 2000 also adds features that are missing in JPEG. It is not nearly as common as JPEG, but it is used currently in professional movie editing and distribution The Exif (Exchangeable image file format) format is a file standard similar to the JFIF format with TIFF extensions; it is incorporated in the JPEG-writing software used in most cameras. Its purpose is to record and to standardize the exchange of images with image metadata between digital cameras and editing and viewing software.

The TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format is a flexible format that normally saves 8 bits or 16 bits per color (red, green, blue) for 24-bit and 48-bit totals, respectively, usually using either the TIFF or TIF filename extension. TIFF's flexibility can be both an advantage and disadvantage, since a reader that reads every type of TIFF file does not exist. TIFFs can be lossy and lossless. TIFF image format is not widely supported by web browsers. TIFF remains widely accepted as a photograph file standard in the printing business. RAW refers to a family of raw image formats that are options available on some digital cameras. These formats usually use a lossless or nearly-lossless compression, and produce file sizes much smaller than the TIFF formats of fullsize processed images from the same cameras The PNG(Portable Network Graphics) file format was created as the free, opensource successor to the GIF. The PNG file format supports truecolor (16 million colors) while the GIF supports only 256 colors. The PNG file excels when the image has large, uniformly colored areas. The lossless PNG format is best suited for editing pictures, and the lossy formats, like JPG, are best for the final distribution of photographic images, because in this case JPG files are usually smaller than PNG files. PNG is designed to work well in online viewing applications like web browsers so it is fully streamable with a progressive display option. PNG is robust, providing both full file integrity checking and simple detection of common transmission errors. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is limited to an 8-bit palette, or 256 colors. This makes the GIF format suitable for storing graphics with relatively few colors such as simple diagrams, shapes, logos and cartoon style images. The GIF format supports animation and is still widely used to provide image animation effects. It also uses a lossless compression that is more effective when large areas have a single color, and ineffective for detailed images or dithered images. The BMP file format (Windows bitmap) handles graphics files within the Microsoft Windows OS. Typically, BMP files are uncompressed, hence they are large; the advantage is their simplicity and wide acceptance in Windows programs.

Vector formats As opposed to the raster image formats above (where the data describes the characteristics of each individual pixel), vector image formats contain a geometric description which can be rendered smoothly at any desired display size. Vector file formats can contain bitmap data as well.3D graphic file formats are technically vector formats with pixel data texture mapping on the surface of a vector virtual object, warped to match the angle of the viewing perspective.

CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) is a file format for 2D vector graphics, raster graphics, and text. All graphical elements can be specified in a textual source file that can be compiled into a binary file. Gerber Format was developed by Gerber Systems Corp., now Ucamco. This is a 2D bi-level image description format. It is the de-facto standard format used by printed circuit board or PCB software. It is also widely used in other industries requiring high-precision 2D bi-level images. Bibliography: The Complete Reference Java2 (Fifth Edition) - Herbert Schildt (Page-815) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_file_formats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_imaging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image