RGB Files

These are some examples of RGB files. RGB files were developed by Silicon Graphics, Incorporated (SGI), and were commonly used for storing textures. Such texture files were often "borrowed" by other graphics systems, including Open Inventor.

The RGB format stores three color values, R, G and B, for each pixel. There are two related formats, "BW", which is a black and white format that stores only one color value per pixel, and "RGBA", which stores a fourth alpha channel component, which measures transparency.

RGB File Characteristics:

• Binary
• Color
• 2D
• Lossless compression (run length encoding)
• 1 image

Reference:

1. Howard Burdick,
   Digital Imaging: Theory and Applications,
   McGraw Hill, 1997.
2. rgb_format.txt, some online information from the SGI man page for the RGB format.

Routines to read an RGB file:

• rgb_io includes a C routine to read an RGB file.

Routines to write an RGB file:

• rgb_io includes a C routine to write an RGB file.

Programs to view an RGB file:

• The AVS module read_any_image can read an RGB file.
• The ImageVision program imgview can display an RGB file.
• The Visualization Data Explorer OpenDX can display an RGB file.
• xv can display an RGB file.

Programs to convert an RGB file to another format:

• The ImageMagick, program convert can convert an RGB file to BMP, CGM, EPS, FIG, FITS, GIF, JPG, PBM, PDF, PGM, PNG, PNM, PPM, PS, TIF, XBM or XPM format.
• xv can save an RGB file in BMP, FIT, GIF, JPG, PBM/PGM/PPM, or TIF formats, among others.

Programs to convert a file to RGB format:

• The ImageMagick, program convert can convert a BMP, CGM, EPS, FIG, FITS, GIF, JPG, PBM, PDF, PGM, PNG, PNM, PPM, PS, TIF, XBM or XPM file to RGB format.
• xv can read a BMP, FIT, GIF, JPG, PBM/PGM/PPM, RGB or TIF file, and save it in RGB format.

Sample RGB Files:

• birch.rgb;
• cotton.rgb;

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