PCI Geomatics® Adds New JPEG 2000 To 100+ Formats
Supported Within Geomatica®

Richmond Hill, Ontario – February 28, 2003: The new JPEG 2000 is the latest spatial data format to be added to the list of over one hundred formats supported by geomatics software developer PCI Geomatics. Support for JPEG 2000 now appears in Geomatica and other image-centric geomatics solutions from PCI Geomatics.

JPEG 2000 is a new open industry standard format with the ability to compress any size image. This format has been extended to support geocoded information and is now built into the PCI Geomatics code library so it can now be used within all PCI Geomatics software. The support of JPEG 2000 in PCI Geomatics’ Geomatica is already attracting the attention of remote sensing and image analysis professionals wishing for an easier method for handling large multispectral imagery.

The new JPEG 2000 uses state-of-the-art compression techniques based on wavelets and operates within an architecture that can fill a variety of digital imagery data needs within the geomatics industry. JPEG 2000 can produce a "lossless" image, where all data is maintained during compression and a complete data set may be recreated precisely. Although the results may vary according to individual data types, a lossless compression ratio of between 2:1 and 5:1 are typical. If the user is willing to achieve a visually lossless result and equally willing to accept some loss in terms of pixel data value, then compression ratios can be as high as over 100:1.

JPEG 2000 was developed and defined by Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), the same group that produced the original JPEG format. Implementation of the new JPEG 2000 standard is based on the Kakadu software library, for which PCI Geomatics is a licensee. Kakadu is a popular library used by many commercial products and has been written specifically with a variety of different types of applications in mind.

Although the JPEG 2000 standard format does not include geocoding, it does allow for extra information to be inserted within the file. This forethought has helped PCI Geomatics to implement the GeoJP2™ geocoding extensions within the JPEG 2000 format. These extensions are similar to the GeoTIFF format and were derived and provided courtesy of Mapping Science Inc. who defined GeoJP2 with a standard set of tags for georeferencing. JPEG 2000 supports more than the three bands JPEG and other more common compression format designs accept, allowing JPEG 2000 to function properly with hyperspectral and multispectral imagery.

The JPEG 2000 format joins other popular wavelet compression formats supported by PCI Geomatics, including MrSid™ (Lizard Tech™) and ECW (ER Mapper™) and is available immediately for existing and new PCI Geomatics customers.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics (www.pcigeomatics.com) is a world leading developer of image-centric geomatics software solutions. PCI Geomatics’ flagship solution, Geomatica, meets the growing demands of the Remote Sensing, Spatial Analysis, Cartographic, and Photogrammetry worlds. PCI Geomatics is celebrating the beginning of its third decade as an industry-leading geomatics solution provider and has long been recognized for its premium yet affordable geomatics software solutions, advanced algorithms, excellent customer assistance, and support for the widest range of spatial data formats in the industry. For more information about PCI Geomatics and the company's Geomatica software solutions, please visit the website at www.pcigeomatics.com or e-mail info@pcigeomatics.com.

About Mapping Science Inc.

Seattle-based Mapping Science, Inc., offers custom product development and consulting services related to image processing, compression, video, digital rights management, steganography and encryption to commercial and government customers worldwide. For more information about Mapping Science and the company's JPEG 2000 solutions please visit the website at www.mappingscience.com, contact info@mappingscience.com, or call (425) 868-8959.

About Kakadu

Kakadu software is written by David Taubman, who was also the principle author of the JPEG2000 Verification Model (VM) software. The Kakadu software framework provides a solid foundation for a range of commercial and non-commercial applications. By making a consistent and efficient implementation of the standard widely available for both academic and commercial applications, the aim of Kakadu is to encourage the widespread adoption of JPEG2000. Dr. Taubman holds the position of Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales. He is a key contributor to the JPEG2000 standard and co-author (with Professor Marcellin) of a comprehensive book on image compression and JPEG2000, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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Press Contact
Tricia McIntosh
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Tel:  (905) 764-0614, Ext. 2217
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