[fitsbits] FITS vs. TIFF (or other image formats)

[Mike Nolan]

Actually, I'd think FITS is exactly what you want: You can put
coordinate and unit information in the header as ASCII text that anyone
can read, and you can store your 8-bit data as a binary 8-bit image
with lossless compression. CFITSIO does the one weird bit transparently
(i.e., FITS data are signed, but allow for an offset and scale, which
CFITSIO applies transparently).

On the other hand, it's not polite to send to a list and not include a
working, if antispammed, email address.

-Mike

> > FITS is designed to record the value of image pixels with high precision
> and
> > is probably not suitable for your application, especially if you are
> dealing
> > with true color images.
> 
> I'm storing 8-bit unsigned chars, so the precision of FITS is probably
> super-overkill for my needs (w.r.t. precision).
> 
> > To answer your second question, however, CFITSIO
> > does support a type of image compression that is well suited
> > for very large images.
> > ...CFITSIO will transparently uncompress the appropriate
> > subimages and return the original image pixel values to the
> > application.
> 
> Now _that's_ _exactly_ what I need! CFITSIO might give me a big leg-up.
> Looks like it's time to dig in and start reading and experimenting.
> 
> Thanks very much for your help,
> Rick Armstrong
> 

---------------------------
Mike Nolan <nolan at naic.edu>
+1 787 878 2612x334  Fax: +1 787 878 1861
Arecibo Observatory / Cornell University
HC03 Box 53995, Arecibo, Puerto Rico 00612  USA