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Why would they use a tif format for the downloadable map? I haven't seen a tif format in 10 years.

by BatFastard 9y ago

bhandziuk 9y ago
lossless format (potentially) that everyone can open?
- BatFastard 9y ago
  After looking at the map, I can't imagine why a lossless format is required. I just exported in as a jpg, and it would take a magnifying glass to see the difference. And the jpg was 16/7% the size (at 90%). Waste of government bandwidth.
  - ceejayoz 9y ago
    I'd imagine NASA's more concerned with pixel perfect reproductions than your average government agency, given the sort of imagery they're often working with.
- tspike 9y ago
  PNG?
  - BatFastard 9y ago
    No need for PNG since there is no transparency. JPG uses 24 bit color depth vs 32 on a PNG.
- tropo 9y ago
  Nope. This is in fact why TIFF is pretty much dead. The format is very extensible. It was originally specified to have 5 ways to encode data: uncompressed, LZW, fax, RLE, and JPEG. The use of proprietary encodings is normal however, along with several non-proprietary encodings. Data can be lossless or not. Data can be bitmap or vector. There are even two different ways to store JPEG data, with many tools supporting only the original style and many other tools only supporting the newer style. Now consider trying to view a TIFF that you have received. You have a several TIFF-capable image viewers. No two of them handle the same set of encodings. The most recently installed viewer is associated with the file extension, and as a normal user you are thus unable to use the other viewers. If you install another TIFF-capable viewer, you gain the ability to view some TIFF images while losing the ability to view some other images. PNG just works. JFIF and EXIF JPEG do too, because nobody creates 12-bit or arithmetic-encoded files. GIF just works.
rootbear 9y ago
I used to work in the group that produced that animation and I can tell you that the TIFF format is alive and well in the 3D graphics world. It is supported by most high-end graphics software, has an open, extensible spec, and can be losslessly compressed if desired. It's also popular in Earth Sciences work due to the GEOTIFF format that adds georeferencing data tags. PNG is a reasonable alternative, usually, but TIFF is entrenched. TIFF had legal issues in the past with respect to the LZW compression, which is a shame. PNG might never have been needed if TIFF had been free of patent encumbrances.

Why would they use a tif format for the downloadable map? I haven't seen a tif format in 10 years.

bhandziuk 9y ago

lossless format (potentially) that everyone can open?

BatFastard 9y ago
After looking at the map, I can't imagine why a lossless format is required. I just exported in as a jpg, and it would take a magnifying glass to see the difference. And the jpg was 16/7% the size (at 90%). Waste of government bandwidth.
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  I'd imagine NASA's more concerned with pixel perfect reproductions than your average government agency, given the sort of imagery they're often working with.
tspike 9y ago
PNG?
- BatFastard 9y ago
  No need for PNG since there is no transparency. JPG uses 24 bit color depth vs 32 on a PNG.
tropo 9y ago
Nope. This is in fact why TIFF is pretty much dead. The format is very extensible. It was originally specified to have 5 ways to encode data: uncompressed, LZW, fax, RLE, and JPEG. The use of proprietary encodings is normal however, along with several non-proprietary encodings. Data can be lossless or not. Data can be bitmap or vector. There are even two different ways to store JPEG data, with many tools supporting only the original style and many other tools only supporting the newer style. Now consider trying to view a TIFF that you have received. You have a several TIFF-capable image viewers. No two of them handle the same set of encodings. The most recently installed viewer is associated with the file extension, and as a normal user you are thus unable to use the other viewers. If you install another TIFF-capable viewer, you gain the ability to view some TIFF images while losing the ability to view some other images. PNG just works. JFIF and EXIF JPEG do too, because nobody creates 12-bit or arithmetic-encoded files. GIF just works.

rootbear 9y ago

I used to work in the group that produced that animation and I can tell you that the TIFF format is alive and well in the 3D graphics world. It is supported by most high-end graphics software, has an open, extensible spec, and can be losslessly compressed if desired. It's also popular in Earth Sciences work due to the GEOTIFF format that adds georeferencing data tags. PNG is a reasonable alternative, usually, but TIFF is entrenched. TIFF had legal issues in the past with respect to the LZW compression, which is a shame. PNG might never have been needed if TIFF had been free of patent encumbrances.