IMAGE FILE FORMATS

GIF (Compuserve Graphics Interchange Format)

Gif format supports up tp 256 colors (8 bits per pixel) and incorporates a "lossless" compression resulting in a manageable file size. The original image is restored exactly upon uncompressing the file: all of the detail and olor present in the original image is preserved. GIF files are a highly compressed format designed to minimize transfer time.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPEG format supports full color (24 bits per pixel). It incorporates "lossy" compression: The original image cannot be exactly restored when the file is decompressed. The image quality is somewhat degraded at the expense of file size but usually discards image data beyond that discernable by the human eye-data loss is indistinguishable. JPEG permits very small file sizes even for very large full-color images.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

TIFF provides the maximum image quality at the expense of large file sizes and thus slow image transmission. It may support full color (24 bits per pixel), however the form used by NIH Image supports only 16 bit color images. TIFF images may be compressed using "lossless" compression.

PICT

PICT images are widely used in Macintosh graphics (Adobe Photoshop) and page layout applications (Microsoft Word) as an intermediary file format used for transferring documents between applications.

MPEG

MPEG is a digital motion picture format. It supports full colors, full motion video using a "lossy" compression which results in quite compact files.