Talk:RAW image file

Although manufacturers write "RAW" in all caps, there's no particular justification. Unlike JPEG, GIF and other image file types, raw isn't an acronym. It's the usual English word "raw" and it indicates unprocessed image data. "Unprocessed" means, as the article explains, that settings like color balance, contrast and sharpness have been ignored (although they've typically been recorded, so that software can later recreate the effects).

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This article contains some factual errors at this point. For example, each "pixel" in a raw image does not take 1 byte. Typically, each component of each pixel takes 8 bits (1 byte), and 3 components is normal (RGB). Some cameras use 16 bits (2 bytes) per component.

To avoid editing conflicts, I'll wait an hour or two to correct this info. I also saw some other minor errors in the article. - David Remahl 12:25, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)

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With my old Minolta Dimage 7, it's neither one byte per pixel, nor three. A raw file takes about 9.7 megabytes, which is somewhere between 5 and 15, for this five-megapixel camera. I don't know the file sizes for the Fuji consumer camera (which has two kinds of sensors on the chip) or the Kodak professional camera (which can give twelve bits per component per pixel --- is that right?).

Fg2 12:35, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)