PROJECT 671 -- INCITS/ISO/IEC 12087-1:1995 [R2005] -- Information technology - Computer graphics and image processing - Image Processing and Interchange (IPI) - Functional specification - Part 1: Common architecture for imaging


ISO/IEC 12087 is concerned with the manipulation, processing, and interchange of all types of digital images.  The main purpose of this part is to define a generic, unifying imaging architecture to which other parts of ISO/IEC 12087 conform. This part of ISO/IEC 12087 also defines those “specializations” or “delineations” of the generic imaging architecture that are required to support IPI-PIKS and IPI-IIF.

The relationship of the different parts of ISO/IEC 12087 is shown in figure 1. This part of ISO/IEC 12087 describes material that applies throughout ISO/IEC 12087, including topics such as data types available for use in image data and image-related data, and a model for the processing of digital images by operators. These topics are presented in a general form, since it is intended that subsequent imaging standards will conform to the same architectural model.

Derived from this general description are more constrained descriptions of the same topics. The principal reason for this process of delineation is to restrict the range of data representations for IPI-PIKS and IPI-IIF, while simultaneously ensuring that IPI-IIF is capable of interchanging both IPI-PIKS data objects and objects that cannot be represented or manipulated within IPI-PIKS.

ISO/IEC 12087 permits multiple Application Program Interface (API)s to be developed, each of which must be based on specific delineations of the imaging model described herein. Each API will be specified in a separate part of ISO/IEC 12087. Any subsequent APIs developed as part of ISO/IEC 12087 must conform to the common architecture described in this document, and must be extensions of the APIs described in ISO/IEC 12087-2 and ISO/IEC 12087-3.

ISO/IEC 12087 is intended for use in a wide variety of environments where digital images are handled.

NOTE 2 Application areas that are addressed by Image Processing and Interchange (IPI) include: image manipulation; image enhancement; image analysis; and image transport. Application areas that are not addressed by IPI include: computer graphics; image understanding; multimedia; device control; and window systems.

ISOLIEC 12087 is intended to conform with other International Standards developed to handle digital images. Such standards include the JPEG [ISOLIEC 10918-1:1994], and MPEG [ISO/IEC 11172-1:1993] compression standards, Open Systems Interconnect [ISO/IEC 8824:1990], and Office Document Architecture [ISO/IEC 86131.

Those aspects of ISOLIEC 12087 that are concerned with the acquisition and display of digital images conform with the Computer Graphics Reference Model [ISO 110721. Furthermore, annex B of [ISO 110721 describes how imaging fits within the general framework of that model. ISO/IEC 12087-3 uses Abstract Syntax Notation 1 [ISOAEC 8824:1990] in the definition of the image interchange format.

ISO/IEC 12087 complies directly with all standards listed in clause 2.