TIFF images
TIFF organizes image data through tagged directories, allowing different sample layouts, compression choices and multiple image representations within one file.
TIFF is a tagged image-file structure. An image directory describes how its associated samples are stored and interpreted. The format is useful for varied imaging workflows because those descriptions need not all select one fixed pixel layout or compression method.
A directory tells the reader how to find samples
The file header establishes byte order and leads to image-directory information. Tags describe dimensions, sample representation and the locations of image data, which can be organized in strips or tiles.
| Tag responsibility | Example information |
|---|---|
| Shape | Width and image length |
| Components | Bits/sample and samples/pixel |
| Interpretation | Photometric meaning, orientation |
| Storage | Compression and strip/tile offsets |
| Associated resources | Applicable colour profile or additional metadata |
The reader uses those descriptions together. Finding a TIFF header does not make every variant a directly readable RGB photo.
Compression is a choice within the file
A TIFF representation can use uncompressed samples or an applicable compression scheme. Losslessness depends on that scheme and on changes made before encoding.
High precision and an ICC profile serve different purposes too: one provides numerical sample capacity, while the other helps interpret colour. A large sixteen-bit file is not automatically HDR or correctly colour managed.
For an Emby image route, the relevant question is whether its reader can decode the selected sample/compression arrangement and present the intended image. A generic “TIFF supported” statement is less specific than that combination.
Several images need a selection rule
Directories can describe multiple pages or representations. One may be a preview, another the principal image, or several may be document pages.
That structure is not automatically a timed animation. A thumbnail generator needs to choose the intended image/page, apply its orientation and colour interpretation, then derive the browsing view.
DNG builds on TIFF-related structures while adding raw-camera requirements. Its raw processing involves further interpretation rather than simply treating every directory as a finished photograph.