This comprehensive reference on the major graphics file formats and the compression technologies they employ is an indispensable resource for graphics programmers, especially those developing graphical applications for the Web. Compressed Image File Formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, XBM, BMP examines the most common graphics file formats in detail and demonstrates how to encode and decode image files for each. In particular, this book offers in-depth coverage of the elaborate JPEG and newer PNG formats, providing clear explanations of complex concepts, experience-based practical techniques, and plentiful code examples. GIF, XBM, and BMP are also covered, with a focus on some of the less familiar and less well-documented features of these common file formats. Specific topics covered include: *Compression technologies that each file format utilizes *Color models employed by each file format *The advantages and disadvantages of each file format *Huffman Coding *LZW Compression *Deflate/Inflate *Progressive JPEG *The Discrete Cosine Transform *Animated GIF The accompanying CD-ROM contains the complete source code for all of the image formats covered in the book, as well as working examples and sample images. If you want to learn how to read and write graphic file formats for the Web--including PNG and JPEG files--there is no better resource than this book. System requirements: Windows 95 or Windows NT, Borland C++ Builder 3, or Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0. 0201604434B04062001
Compressed Image File Formats is an appealingly compact and useful guide to some of today's most popular file formats used for image data. For any programmer who needs to know how images are stored, this concise reference can serve as a really invaluable resource.
Besides full coverage of the popular BMP, GIF and PNG file formats, the book zeroes in on the JPEG standard, perhaps today's most popular (and most complicated) image format. In a series of short chapters, the book looks at JPEG in detail, from basic file organisation (its format and marker fields), file compression techniques (like Huffman coding and DCT) and how to decode (read) and encode (write) JPEG images. By condensing hundreds of pages of specifications and documentation from the voluminous JPEG standard into this short volume, the author has created a worthwhile summary of key JPEG features and compression techniques useful to any graphics programmer.
The book also includes C++ code for a simple JPEG encoder (on the accompanying CD). This example can get you started compressing images using the JPEG format. In addition, the book discusses techniques for creating and decoding progressive JPEGs (used for downloading images in stages, in progressively finer resolutions, over the Internet).
Whether you are a programmer faced with decoding or encoding image data, or an interested Webmaster who wants to see the pros and cons of today's image file formats, Compressed Image File Formats provides a worthwhile and concise reference to what's inside image files. --Richard Dragan, amazon.com
Topics covered: bitmap basics, colour models, Windows BMP file format, XBM file format, JPEG basics and file format, JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF), JPEG Huffman Coding, data unit encoding, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), matrix operations, JPEG decoding and encoding, progressive JPEG, GIF file format and compression, PNG file format.
