This section describes TIFF compression scheme 7, a high-performance compression method for
continuous-tone images. This TIFF compression method uses the international standard for image
compression ISO/IEC 10918-1, usually known as “JPEG” (after the original name of the standards
committee, Joint Photographic Experts Group). JPEG is a joint ISO/CCITT standard for compression of
continuous-tone images.
The JPEG committee decided that because of the broad scope of the standard, no one algorithmic procedure
was able to satisfy the requirements of all applications. Instead, the JPEG standard became a “toolkit” of
multiple algorithms and optional capabilities. Individual applications may select a subset of the JPEG
standard that meets their requirements.
The most important distinction among the JPEG processes is between lossy and lossless compression.
Lossy compression methods provide high compression but allow only approximate reconstruction of the
original image. JPEG’s lossy processes allow the encoder to trade off compressed file size against
reconstruction fidelity over a wide range. Typically, 10:1 or more compression of full-color data can be
obtained while keeping the reconstructed image visually indistinguishable from the original. Much higher
compression ratios are possible if a low-quality reconstructed image is acceptable. Lossless compression
provides exact reconstruction of the source data, but the achievable compression ratio is much lower than
for the lossy processes; JPEG’s rather simple lossless process typically achieves around 2:1 compression of
full-color data.
The most widely implemented JPEG subset is the “baseline” JPEG process. This provides lossy
compression of 8-bit-per-channel data. Optional extensions include 12-bit-per-channel data, arithmetic
entropy coding for better compression, and progressive/hierarchical representations. The lossless process is
an independent algorithm that has little in common with the lossy processes.
It should be noted that the optional arithmetic-coding extension is subject to several US and Japanese
patents. To avoid patent problems, use of arithmetic coding processes in TIFF files intended for interapplication
interchange is discouraged.
All of the JPEG processes are useful only for “continuous tone” data, in which the difference between
adjacent pixel values is usually small. Low-bit-depth source data is not appropriate for JPEG compression,
nor are palette-color images good candidates. The JPEG processes work well on grayscale and full-color
data.
Describing the JPEG compression algorithms in sufficient detail to permit implementation would require
more space than we have here. Instead, we refer the reader to the References section.