On Standards For The Storage Of Images And Data

A standardized format is required in order to communicate image information between different systems. It is important that the standard be sufficiently flexible to allow for the encoding of the raw data that was used to form the image. Arguments are presented concerning the importance and value of storing the raw data, independent of its source. Future standards evaluation committees are asked to consider raw data storage flexibility as a selection criterion. An example of image/data storage flexibility in currently used formats are given.