[OSGeo-Discuss] Open File Formats and Proprietary Algorithms

[Landon Blake]

MPG:

 

Thanks for the clarification. 

 

When you said "there is today no open source implementation of JP2 that
is suitable for geo work" do you mean that there is no open source
library that can read and write JP2? If so, who is using the format?

 

Do you know why there hasn't been a broader adoption of JP2?

 

(I should also add the MPG helped me publish a short article in support
for open file formats, so I know he is on our side.)  :]

 

Landon

Office Phone Number: (209) 946-0268

Cell Phone Number: (209) 992-0658

 

 

________________________________

From: discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Michael P. Gerlek
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 1:55 PM
To: OSGeo Discussions
Subject: RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] Open File Formats and Proprietary
Algorithms

 

Some clarifications:

 

- MrSID has both lossy and lossless modes

- MrSID is not fractal based; it uses wavelets (and arithmetic encoding)

- you can't copyright algorithms; the MrSID source code certainly is,
however

- MrSID relies on a number of patents, not all of which are owned by
LizardTech

- reading MrSID does not require any fees; we have libraries you can
download, although they are not open source

 

That said, some editorial comments (although I'm now wishing I hadn't
been so quick to rise to Landon's bait :-)

 

- Some of you know the history of trying to open source MrSID; I won't
go into that here, except to say that LizardTech doesn't own all of the
required IP needed to make that happen.

- If we are speaking of the NAIP data, then no, it is not exclusively
available in MrSID format; it is also shipped as GeoTIFFs.

- JPEG 2000 is a very robust open standard alternative to MrSID, and a
number of players already support it (including LizardTech), but not
enough to make it viable for certain domains like NAIP.

- some of you also know the history on open JP2 support: there is today
no open source implementation of JP2 that is suitable for geo work.
Alas.

 

-mpg

 

 

From: discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Eric Wolf
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 2:15 PM
To: OSGeo Discussions
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Open File Formats and Proprietary
Algorithms

 

The MRSID format is a very special case - and perhaps an opportunity for
a new FOSS file format. MRSID is a lossless, fractal-based, multi-scale
raster compression format. LizardTech has the algorithms to encode and
decode MRSID locked up in copyrights, and I believe, patents. Even
companies like ESRI shell out big bucks to LizardTech to be able to read
and write the MRSID format.

 

I guess I missed the context of the discussion. Is the government
releasing certain data exclusively in this format? If so, I think the
argument can be made against this practice. The different in compression
between MRSID and gziped TIFFs isn't really that great in this day of
cheap disks and fat pipes.

 

-Eric


-=--=---=----=----=---=--=-=--=---=----=---=--=-=-
Eric B. Wolf                    New! 720-334-7734
USGS Geographer
Center of Excellence in GIScience
PhD Student 
CU-Boulder - Geography



 



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