[fitsbits] 16-bit floats {External} {External}

[Steve Allen]

On Fri 2025-07-25T14:27:15-1000 Paul Hirst via fitsbits hath writ:
> I would support updating the standard to include both 16 and 128 bit floats
> as both image and binary table data types. My instinct is to just update
> the standard rather than going with an extension.
>
> I don't think it follows that this forces all packages to update - as far
> as I'm aware there's nothing that says every package has to support all
> possible FITS files. Obviously, if you want to make use of the new types,
> you'd need to use software that supports them, but that's only the same as
> for example if you want to use tables, or tile compression, you need to use
> software that supports them.

I agree.  It is important that FITS not change in a way that
invalidates existing files which conform to the standard.
It is impossible for FITS to guarantee that any given software
will indefinitely read all new FITS files.
It is desirable that FITS not be like web browsers which require an
update to the software every few weeks.

I think FITS should include half precision floats into all existing
ways of storing binary data.


--
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