What Makes BMP a Desirable Format?
BMP is a lossless, device-independent file format that allows complex digital images to be created, stored and transferred without fear of data corruption. Although bitmap files are often large, their lack of artifacts and the ability to compress them using a variety of commonplace archive tools means they are a very desirable format for high-quality images.
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History
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The BMP file format was developed by Microsoft for the Windows 3.0 operating system, as a method of creating a file format that allowed images to be transferred between devices. Microsoft "publicly defined" the BMP format so software and independent devices could work with bitmap files without having to rely on the Windows operating system. This allowed the format to gain a foothold in other operating systems, and also with digital cameras.
Features
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The BMP file format is device-independent, so the image looks the same on whatever system displays it. To enable device-independence, each BMP file contains a header that tells the computer reading it both how the data is stored and how it should be handled. The rest of the file is composed of pixel data, arranged in an array that maps the image from the lower left to the upper right.
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Significance
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Because the BMP format is device-independent, high quality, complex image data can be transferred between cameras, computers and other devices without loss of information. Each device will render the image in the same way; limited only by the device's own graphics capabilities. The BMP format is lossless, so no artifacts will be introduced while the image is transferred or worked on.
Benefits
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Bitmap images are extremely sharp and contain no loss of data when the image is saved. This is because the BMP format stores information on the color used for each pixel in the image, arranged as a grid (or "bit map") representing the screen. This allows for highly detailed data and images to be stored without fear of corruption due to artifacts; which is a problem faced by "lossy" file formats such as JPEG.
Size
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Because BMP format records data for each pixel making up the image, its files are significantly larger than those of other image file formats. However, as bitmap files do not contain any kind of intrinsic file compression, they can be compressed easily into far smaller ZIP or RAR files for transfer and archive purposes.
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References
- Photo Credit crocuses first flower spring flower image by Pali A from Fotolia.com
