12-bit JPEG

12-bit JPEG

Posted Apr 4, 2007 0:37 UTC (Wed) by roelofs (subscriber, #2599)
Parent article: Working with raw images on Linux

For people who like to play with HDR techniques there is an additional advantage: the camera typically record 12 to 16 bits of data for each channel - rather more than fits into a JPEG file.

Technically, that's not entirely true: JPEG/JFIF supports a 12-bit-per-sample mode, and libjpeg can even be compiled to support it (albeit as an all-or-nothing option--i.e., if you do that, you don't get 8-bit support anymore, at least not without third-party patches).

That said, I've never heard of a camera that can record 12bps JPEG, so it's sort of academic.

Greg

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