JAPAN ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION STANDARD
Design rule
for
Camera File system
Version 1.0
JEIDA-49-2-1998
Established December 1998
JAPAN ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
Design rule for Camera File system
ii
This standard makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the use of any
intellectual property, such as patents, copyrights and trademarks, belonging to any
corporation or individual. Nor does this standard make any warranty regarding
system reliability or product liability.
Windows
TM
is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and elsewhere.
Version 1.0
iii
Background to this standard
The Exif
*1)
image file format standard was established with the aim of realizing a
common format for the image files used with digital still cameras and other related
equipment, making these products more convenient for end users.
With the rapidly growing popularity of digital still cameras, there are increasing demands
for file interchangeability, which will allow images captured on one camera to be viewed
on another, or output directly to a printer. ExifR98
*2)
is a set of compatibility
recommendations designed to meet such needs, by strictly defining the range of Exif
application, and by setting out detailed rules for recording and playing image files not
specified in the Exif format.
In addition, CIFF (Camera Image File Format)
*3)
lays out rules for directory and file
structures, so that a variety of files can be stored and managed efficiently on removable
memory media.
The present specification (Design rule for Camera File system, hereinafter DCF) is based
on the above recommendations. It was drawn up for the purpose of simplifying the
interchange of image files and related files on digital still cameras and other equipment,
while supporting today's higher resolution images and large-capacity memory media.
*1) Exif Version 2.1 Digital Still Camera Image File Format Standard (Exif)
Version 2.1, Japan Electronic Industry Development
Association (JEIDA), 1998.
*2) ExifR98 Version 1.0 JEIDA Recommended Exif Interoperability Rules (ExifR98)
(Exif Annex) Version 1.00, Japan Electronic Industry
Development Association (JEIDA), 1998.
*3) CIFF Version 1.0 Details of the standard are available at the following URL:
http://www.ciff-forum.com/
Design rule for Camera File system
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Version 1.0
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Contents
Background to this standard ............................................................................iii
1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 1
1.1. Purpose.........................................................................................................................................1
1.2. Scope.............................................................................................................................................1
1.3. Glossary ........................................................................................................................................1
1.4. Definition of characters used in directory and file names...............................................................3
1.5. Approach to playback compatibility ...............................................................................................4
2. Definition of DCF -compatible products ............................................................... 5
2.1. DCF and recording media..............................................................................................................5
2.2. Configuration of DCF specification ................................................................................................5
2.3. Classification of functions..............................................................................................................6
2.4. Categories of DCF-compatible equipment ......................................................................................7
3. DCF media standard.................................................................................. 8
3.1. Directory definition .......................................................................................................................8
3.1.1. DCF image root directory........................................................................................................8
3.1.2. DCF directories ......................................................................................................................8
3.1.3. Other directories.....................................................................................................................8
Directory example................................................................................................................................9
3.2. File definition ................................................................................................................................9
3.2.1. DCF file names.......................................................................................................................9
3.2.2. DCF objects..........................................................................................................................10
(A) Purpose of DCF objects.............................................................................................................10
(B) Object definition......................................................................................................................10
(C) Files included in objects............................................................................................................10
(D) Object file attributes................................................................................................................11
(E) Object operation......................................................................................................................11
3.3. DCF basic files ............................................................................................................................ 11
3.3.1. Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 11
3.3.2. Directory, file names and extensions ..................................................................................... 11
3.3.3. Images in a DCF basic file.................................................................................................... 11
3.3.4. Data structure of a DCF basic main image............................................................................ 11
(A) Data structure........................................................................................................................11
(B) Data compression ....................................................................................................................11
(C) Pixel count.............................................................................................................................11
(D) Image aspect ratio...................................................................................................................11
3.3.5. Attribute information ........................................................................................................... 11
(A) Exif tag structure....................................................................................................................12
(B) Image-related information ........................................................................................................12
(C) DCF identifying information.....................................................................................................12
(D) Color space.............................................................................................................................13
3.3.6. DCF basic thumbnail data structure.....................................................................................14
