[Qgis-user] Imagine raster details in QGIS v ArcGIS

[john polo]

Hi,
I downloaded the raster at this site:
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/ecoregions.htm
(scroll down about halfway to find the raster link. The file is kind of 
big, ArcGIS says the uncompressed size is 5.69 GB, 225 MB as a zip)
and loaded it into QGIS as a standalone raster file. It is a raster of 
Oklahoma, USA classified into vegetation types at 10mx10m resolution.

It is saved as ERDAS Imagine, if I understand the extension. I don't 
know if the file type is relevant to the issues I am running into.

When the file is open in QGIS, the min and max pixel values have a 
smaller range, 314 - 14797, than when the file is open in ArcGIS, 207 - 
15516. I can redraw the raster in ArcGIS to "Unique" instead of 
"Stretched" pixel values in the Symbology, which will then give me 
classifications for the pixels. Additionally, the CRS is USER:100002 in 
QGIS, but Albers Conical Equal Area in QGIS. Why does this difference in 
rendering happen? How can I get QGIS to render the file with the same 
characteristics as ArcGIS automatically? I know I can save with a new 
CRS to fix that issue, but if the file can load in ArcGIS with the CRS 
from the start, shouldn't QGIS render it the same? I don't know how to 
get the pixel values to the same range or how to get the classifications 
assigned.

John