ORF format
Encyclopedia
In digital photography
, ORF file format
is a Raw image format
used in Olympus
digital cameras. Like all other raw formats, this one contains image information rendered directly by a camera's sensor. ORF files feature so called headers that present image characteristics, such as saturation, color temperature
, contrast, etc. Headers also contain metadata, which includes camera's technical characteristics.
Because ORF images come out without undergoing any processing, they present almost real color and shade characteristics, and they are more open for extensive editing than JPEG
or TIFF images. ORF files have to be copied to a PC's hard disk, and then one can resort to a very extensive array of adjustments. ORF format allows you to achieve maximum precision by setting one's own white balance and saturation values, which is not feasible in JPEG or TIFF.
This approach is used by experienced professional and devoted amateur photographers. For this reason, ORF format is only supported by professional Olympus digital cameras. ORF files contain 12, 14 or more bits per pixel, whereas JPEG images have only 8 bits per pixel.
Digital photography
Digital photography is a form of photography that uses an array of light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film...
, ORF file format
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
is a Raw image format
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
used in Olympus
Olympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...
digital cameras. Like all other raw formats, this one contains image information rendered directly by a camera's sensor. ORF files feature so called headers that present image characteristics, such as saturation, color temperature
Color temperature
Color temperature is a characteristic of visible light that has important applications in lighting, photography, videography, publishing, manufacturing, astrophysics, and other fields. The color temperature of a light source is the temperature of an ideal black-body radiator that radiates light of...
, contrast, etc. Headers also contain metadata, which includes camera's technical characteristics.
Overview
ORF files can be termed ORF digital negatives. Just like analogous film negatives, they are not intended as images, because they cannot be managed via photo editing software. They just contain all necessary information to create an image.Because ORF images come out without undergoing any processing, they present almost real color and shade characteristics, and they are more open for extensive editing than JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
or TIFF images. ORF files have to be copied to a PC's hard disk, and then one can resort to a very extensive array of adjustments. ORF format allows you to achieve maximum precision by setting one's own white balance and saturation values, which is not feasible in JPEG or TIFF.
This approach is used by experienced professional and devoted amateur photographers. For this reason, ORF format is only supported by professional Olympus digital cameras. ORF files contain 12, 14 or more bits per pixel, whereas JPEG images have only 8 bits per pixel.