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Comparison of compressed output formats

For raster images, GeoExpress can create compressed images in the MrSID and JPEG 2000 formats. Because the NITF format can contain JPEG 2000 files, you can also create compressed NITF files. For LiDAR data, GeoExpress can create compressed files in the MrSID and LAZ formats. For LiDAR data, LAZ files can only be created using lossless compression. MrSID files are lossless by default, but you can also specify a compression ratio to create lossy files.

To see information about an image, including the file format, width, height, and compression ratio if applicable, use the mrsidgeoinfo tool.

Compressed Raster Formats

The following table compares some of the features supported by the raster output formats:

  output format
Feature MG2 MG3 MG4 JPEG 2000
Lossy output with a maximum of 3 bands, cropping, no advanced encoding, output file smaller than 2GB
Advanced encoding (such as reprojection, color balancing, despeckling, and Area of Interest encoding)  
Output file size larger than 2GB  
Lossless output  
Mosaic that uses MrSID files as input  
Multispectral output    
Arbitrary band mapping      
Per-band compression      

Compressed LiDAR Formats

The following table compares some of the features supported by the LiDAR output formats:

  output format
Feature LAZ LAS BPF MG4
Lossless compression
Using a specified compression ratio      
Creating mosaics      

For more information on output formats, see Supported output file formats.