pfstools is a set of command line (and two GUI) programs for reading, writing, manipulating and viewing high-dynamic range (HDR) images and video frames.
All programs in this package exchange data using a simple generic file format (pfs) for HDR data. It is an attempt to integrate existing file formats by providing a simple data format that can be used to exchange data between applications.
pfstools offers also a good integration with GNU Octave and Matlab. pfstools can serve as a Matlab or Octave toolbox for reading and writing HDR images or simply to effectively store large matrices.
The concept of the pfstools is similar to netpbm package for low-dynamic range images.
pfs is not just another format for storing HDR images. It is more an attempt to integrate the existing HDR image formats by providing a simple data format that can be used to exchange data between applications. It comes with a library for reading and writing pfs files.
Key Features
- Handles colorimetry of images, not neglecting physical meaning of color data.
- The filters can work on a single images as well as on a sequences of frames.
- It includes a set of loaders and savers for most of the popular HDR file formats. There is no need to write one’s own loader for Radiance’s RGBE or link with several libraries to load OpenEXR images.
- Flexibility from the software’s modular architecture.
- pfs files can contain not only color information but also additional channels, like depth map, flow field or alpha channel.
- Integration with Octave and Matlab. It includes functions to read and write HDR frame from/to Octave/Matlab. This way, it is easy to write a one tone mapping operator using a high level math language.
- It includes a convenient viewer for HDR images and any data that fits into pfs files.
Website: pfstools.sourceforge.net
Support: pfstools.sourceforge.net/man_pages.html
Developer: Grzegorz Krawczyk, Rafal Mantiuk and contributors
License: GNU LGPL v2.1
pfstools is written in C++. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| HDR Imaging Software | |
|---|---|
| RawTherapee | The Experimental Raw Photo Editor |
| OpenEXR | HDR image file format and HDR utilities |
| Hugin | Panorama photo stitching program |
| pfstools | Command line HDR manipulation programs |
| tev | High dynamic range image comparison tool |
| HyperHDR | Ambient lighting implementation for television and music sets |
| HDRView | Depth-map and high-dynamic range image viewer |
| Luminance HDR | Provides a workflow for HDR imaging |
| Radiance | Lighting simulation and rendering system |
| HDRMerge | Combine two or more raw images into a single raw |
| CinePaint | Works with 16-bit and floating point pixels for HDR imaging |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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