Knowing which chroma-subsampling was used in a JPEG

[rnbc]

Hello!

Is there any way, with identify for example, of knowing which chroma-subsampling was used in a certain JPEG file?

Thanks.

[Drarakel]

Code: Select all

identify -verbose image.jpg

Example output:
...
jpeg:sampling-factor: 2x2,1x1,1x1

Or just use:

Code: Select all

identify -format "%[jpeg:sampling-factor]" image.jpg

Note:
Both commands take these factors as image attribute (could be stored in other places). So, this would be possible, too:

Code: Select all

convert rose: rose.jpg
convert rose.jpg rose.png
identify -format "%[jpeg:sampling-factor]" rose.png

2x2,1x1,1x1
Here, it's of course no real sampling-factor!

You can also use:

Code: Select all

identify -debug coder -log "%e" image.jpg

These commands usually give the sampling-factors for all channels. So, if you have "2x2,1x1,1x1" in a YCbCr (RGB) image, then the Chroma (Cb and Cr) has a subsampling of 2x2.

[rnbc]

Many thanks!

Weird as it may seem I hadn't seen the -verbose option (duh!!!) when looking at the -help output...

[fmw42]

see http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/basics/#controls and http://www.imagemagick.org/script/identify.php

also see

YCbCrSubSampling

from EXIF tags at http://www.imagemagick.org/script/escape.php

convert image -format "%[EXIF:YCbCrSubSampling]" info:

[Drarakel]

YCbCrSubSampling

from EXIF tags at http://www.imagemagick.org/script/escape.php

convert image -format "%[EXIF:YCbCrSubSampling]" info:

Though this tag is usually for TIFF files - not for JPG files.

Regarding TIFF:
1) The above code doesn't work (even for 'JPG in TIFF' files that have this tag). IM can't output these EXIF tags in TIFF directly.
2) IM translates the info from the EXIF tags in TIFF partly into 'tiff:', 'jpeg:' or 'photoshop:' attributes. So, one can retrieve the info from the YCbCrSubsampling tag again with "identify -format "%[jpeg:sampling-factor]" image.tif". For example, if the stored values in the tag are "2 2", then IM displays that as "jpeg:sampling-factor: 2x2".
3) But even this info will be wrong for most of the 'JPG in TIFF' files that IM creates. Most of these files can't use subsampling anyway (the sampling-factor will be just 1x1). See my report here.

So, sadly there is no easy way to retrieve the real sampling-factor for JPG compression in TIFF.