Image Format Libraries - Miele-LXIV Easy

Medical imaging uses various compression formats to balance image quality with file size. Miele-LXIV Easy integrates multiple image format libraries to support the full range of DICOM transfer syntaxes and display formats.

Overview

The build system compiles five major image format libraries:

JPEG

Standard lossy compression (JPEG baseline)

TIFF

Multi-page image storage and lossless compression

PNG

Lossless compression for screenshots and displays

OpenJPEG

JPEG 2000 compression (lossy and lossless)

Jasper

Alternative JPEG 2000 implementation

JPEG (libjpeg)

Purpose

The Independent JPEG Group’s library handles standard JPEG compression. In medical imaging, JPEG is used for:

DICOM Transfer Syntax 1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.50: JPEG Baseline (lossy)
Preview Images: Thumbnails and quick previews
Screen Captures: Exporting views for reports

Lossy JPEG should not be used for diagnostic images where image quality is critical. Many institutions only allow lossless compression for primary diagnostic images.

Version & Configuration

JPEG_VERSION=9d

Build Process

JPEG uses a traditional autotools build:

build.sh:314-340

if [ $STEP_DOWNLOAD_LIB_JPEG ] && [ ! -d $SRC_JPEG ] ; then
cd $SRC
curl -O http://www.ijg.org/files/jpegsrc.v$JPEG_VERSION.tar.gz
tar -zxf jpegsrc.v$JPEG_VERSION.tar.gz
rm jpegsrc.v$JPEG_VERSION.tar.gz
fi

if [ $STEP_CONFIGURE_LIB_JPEG ] ; then
echo "=== Configure LIBJPEG in $BLD_JPEG"
mkdir -p $BLD_JPEG ; cd $BLD_JPEG
$SRC_JPEG/configure --prefix=$BIN_JPEG
fi

if [ $STEP_COMPILE_LIB_JPEG ] ; then
cd $BLD_JPEG
echo "=== Build LIBJPEG"
make $MAKE_FLAGS
echo "=== Install LIBJPEG"
make install
fi

TIFF (libtiff)

Purpose

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) provides:

Multi-page Storage: Multiple images in one file
Lossless Compression: LZW, ZIP compression
Metadata: Rich tagging system
High Bit Depths: 12-bit, 16-bit images

TIFF is used for exporting image series and archival storage.

Version & Configuration

TIFF_VERSION=4.0.10

Build Configuration

TIFF is built with CMake and depends on JPEG:

build.sh:355-373

$CMAKE -G"$GENERATOR" \
    -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$BIN_TIFF \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=$OSX_ARCHITECTURES \
    -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=$DEPL_TARG \
    -D BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
    -D BUILD_DOCUMENTATION=OFF \
    -D BUILD_TESTING=OFF \
    -D lzma=OFF \
    -D zstd=OFF \
    -D webp=OFF \
    -D JPEG_INCLUDE_DIR=$BIN_JPEG/include \
    -D JPEG_LIBRARY=$BIN_JPEG/lib/libjpeg.a \
    -D CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="$COMPILER_FLAGS" \
    $SRC_TIFF

Post-Install Patching

TIFF headers are patched to avoid type conflicts:

build.sh:383-386

sed -i '' -e "s/typedef TIFF_UINT64_T/\/\/typedef TIFF_UINT64_T/g" "$BIN_TIFF/include/tiff.h"
sed -i '' -e "s/uint64 tiff_diroff/TIFF_UINT64_T tiff_diroff/g" "$BIN_TIFF/include/tiff.h"
sed -i '' -e "s/uint64/TIFF_UINT64_T/g" "$BIN_TIFF/include/tiffio.h"

These modifications prevent type collisions on macOS.

PNG (libpng)

Purpose

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) provides lossless compression for:

Screen Captures: Export visualizations
Overlays: Annotations and graphics
Web Display: Share images online

PNG is not used for primary DICOM storage but for display and export.

Version & Configuration

PNG_VERSION=1.6.37

Build Configuration

build.sh:207-219

$CMAKE -G"$GENERATOR" \
    -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$BIN_PNG \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=$OSX_ARCHITECTURES \
    -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=$DEPL_TARG \
    -D PNG_FRAMEWORK=ON \
    -D BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
    -D CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="$COMPILER_FLAGS" \
    $SRC_PNG

PNG is built as a shared library (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON) and framework, unlike most other dependencies which use static linking.

OpenJPEG

Purpose

OpenJPEG is an open-source JPEG 2000 codec supporting:

JPEG 2000 Compression: Both lossy and lossless
High Bit Depths: 12-bit, 16-bit medical images
Better Quality: Superior to JPEG at same compression ratios
DICOM Transfer Syntaxes: Multiple J2K variants

JPEG 2000 is increasingly popular in medical imaging for its quality and flexibility.

Version & Configuration

OPENJPG_MAJOR=2
OPENJPG_MINOR=3
OPENJPG_BUILD=1
OPENJPG_VERSION=2.3.1

Build Configuration

build.sh:658-670

$CMAKE -G"$GENERATOR" \
    -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$BIN_OPENJPG \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=$OSX_ARCHITECTURES \
    -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=$DEPL_TARG \
    -D CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON \
    -D BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
    -D BUILD_THIRDPARTY=ON \
    -D CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="$COMPILER_FLAGS" \
    $SRC_OPENJPG

Patching

OpenJPEG requires patches for compatibility:

patch/openjpeg-2.3.1_miele-easy-8.4.62.patch

build.sh:644-650

if [ $STEP_PATCH_OPENJPG ] ; then
cd $SRC_OPENJPG
echo "=== Patch OpenJPEG"
if [ -f $PATCH_DIR/$PATCH_FILENAME ] ; then
patch -p1 -i $PATCH_DIR/$PATCH_FILENAME
fi
fi

Post-Install

Additional headers are copied after installation:

build.sh:684

cp $SRC_OPENJPG/src/bin/common/format_defs.h $BIN_OPENJPG/include

Jasper

Purpose

Jasper is an alternative JPEG 2000 implementation. Miele-LXIV includes both OpenJPEG and Jasper for maximum compatibility with different JPEG 2000 variants.

Version & Configuration

JASPER_VERSION=2.0.32

Build Configuration

build.sh:699-712

$CMAKE -G"$GENERATOR" \
    -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$BIN_JASPER \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=$OSX_ARCHITECTURES \
    -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -D CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=$DEPL_TARG \
    -D CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON \
    -D CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="$COMPILER_FLAGS" \
    -D JAS_ENABLE_AUTOMATIC_DEPENDENCIES=OFF \
    -D JAS_ENABLE_SHARED=OFF \
    -D JAS_ENABLE_PROGRAMS=OFF \
    $SRC_JASPER

Option	Purpose
`JAS_ENABLE_SHARED=OFF`	Build static library
`JAS_ENABLE_PROGRAMS=OFF`	Don’t build command-line tools
`JAS_ENABLE_AUTOMATIC_DEPENDENCIES=OFF`	Manage dependencies manually

Library Dependencies

The image libraries have interdependencies:

DICOM Transfer Syntax Support

These libraries enable support for DICOM transfer syntaxes:

Transfer Syntax	Library	Description
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.50	JPEG	JPEG Baseline (lossy, 8-bit)
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.51	JPEG	JPEG Extended (lossy, 12-bit)
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.57	JPEG	JPEG Lossless, Non-Hierarchical
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.70	JPEG	JPEG Lossless, First-Order Prediction
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.80	OpenJPEG/Jasper	JPEG-LS Lossless
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.90	OpenJPEG/Jasper	JPEG 2000 Lossless
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.91	OpenJPEG/Jasper	JPEG 2000 Lossy

DCMTK automatically uses the appropriate library based on the transfer syntax of the DICOM file being loaded.

Configuration in Kconfig

Kconfig-miele:34-39

config DOWNLOAD_LIB_JPEG
    bool "lib jpeg"
    default y

config DOWNLOAD_LIB_TIFF
    bool "lib tiff"
    default y

config DOWNLOAD_LIB_PNG
    bool "lib png"
    default y

config DOWNLOAD_SOURCES_OPENJPG
    bool "OpenJPEG"
    default y

config DOWNLOAD_SOURCES_JASPER
    bool "Jasper"
    default y

Build Order

The image libraries must be built in this order due to dependencies:

JPEG (no dependencies)
PNG (no dependencies)
TIFF (depends on JPEG)
OpenJPEG (no dependencies)
Jasper (no dependencies)
VTK (uses JPEG, TIFF, PNG)
DCMTK (uses all image libraries)

The build script handles this ordering automatically.

Common Issues

TIFF Type Conflicts

If you see errors about uint64 type conflicts, ensure the post-install patching step ran:

# This should be automatic, but can be run manually:
sed -i '' -e "s/uint64/TIFF_UINT64_T/g" "$BIN_TIFF/include/tiffio.h"

OpenJPEG Linking

Ensure the format_defs.h header was copied:

ls $BIN_OPENJPG/include/format_defs.h

If missing, copy it manually from build.sh:684.

libjpeg

Independent JPEG Group homepage

libtiff

LibTIFF documentation

OpenJPEG

OpenJPEG GitHub repository

JPEG 2000 Standard

JPEG 2000 specifications

Get Started

Setup Guide

Configuration

Dependencies

Advanced

​Overview

JPEG

TIFF

PNG

OpenJPEG

Jasper

​JPEG (libjpeg)

​Purpose

​Version & Configuration

​Build Process

​TIFF (libtiff)

​Purpose

​Version & Configuration

​Build Configuration

​Post-Install Patching

​PNG (libpng)

​Purpose

​Version & Configuration

​Build Configuration

​OpenJPEG

​Purpose

​Version & Configuration

​Build Configuration

​Patching

​Post-Install

​Jasper

​Purpose

​Version & Configuration

​Build Configuration

​Library Dependencies

​DICOM Transfer Syntax Support

​Configuration in Kconfig

​Build Order

​Common Issues

​TIFF Type Conflicts

​OpenJPEG Linking

​Further Reading

libjpeg

libtiff

OpenJPEG

JPEG 2000 Standard

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

JPEG (libjpeg)

Purpose

Version & Configuration

Build Process

TIFF (libtiff)

Purpose

Version & Configuration

Build Configuration

Post-Install Patching

PNG (libpng)

Purpose

Version & Configuration

Build Configuration

OpenJPEG

Purpose

Version & Configuration

Build Configuration

Patching

Post-Install

Jasper

Purpose

Version & Configuration

Build Configuration

Library Dependencies

DICOM Transfer Syntax Support

Configuration in Kconfig

Build Order

Common Issues

TIFF Type Conflicts

OpenJPEG Linking

Further Reading