TIFF Tag SampleFormat
| IFD | Image |
|---|---|
| Code | 339 (hex 0x0153) |
| Name | SampleFormat |
| LibTiff name | TIFFTAG_SAMPLEFORMAT |
| Type | SHORT |
| Count | N = SamplesPerPixel |
| Default | 1 (unsigned integer data) |
Description
Specifies how to interpret each data sample in a pixel.
The specification defines these values:
1 = unsigned integer data
2 = two's complement signed integer data
3 = IEEE floating point data
4 = undefined data format
LibTiff defines these values, and adds two more to cover complex sample formats:
SAMPLEFORMAT_UINT = 1;
SAMPLEFORMAT_INT = 2;
SAMPLEFORMAT_IEEEFP = 3;
SAMPLEFORMAT_VOID = 4;
SAMPLEFORMAT_COMPLEXINT = 5;
SAMPLEFORMAT_COMPLEXIEEEFP = 6;
Note that the SampleFormat field does not specify the size of data samples; this is still done by the BitsPerSample field.
A field value of undefined is a statement by the writer that it did not know how to interpret the data samples; for example, if it were copying an existing image. A reader would typically treat an image with undefined data as if the field were not present (i.e. as unsigned integer data).