BWidthBild

BWidthBild is a binary image encoding format designed to efficiently encode images where the display width and pixel data are tightly coupled. The format emphasizes compact headers and block-based pixel data to support streaming and low-latency rendering.

The name combines BWidth, a reference to a width-aware encoding strategy, and Bild, the German word for image. The term signals the technique’s focus on preserving width information alongside pixel data.

Technical design: The format begins with a compact header containing a magic number, image width, height, color depth, and optional flags. Pixel data is organized into macroblocks with selective run-length encoding for homogeneous areas. It supports RGB formats (RGB565 and 24-bit RGB) and an optional alpha channel. A lightweight, dictionary-based compression may be applied to blocks, and frames can be decoded progressively to enable partial rendering during streaming.

History and standardization: BWidthBild was proposed by researchers in the digital-media field and published as the BWB-01 specification. Experimental libraries and hardware decoders have demonstrated basic encoding and decoding, though widespread adoption remains limited and ecosystem support is still developing.

Applications and reception: The format aims at bandwidth-constrained environments, including mobile streaming, IoT cameras, and edge devices, where width-aware encoding reduces overhead. It faces compatibility challenges with established formats and does not yet have the broad ecosystem support of JPEG, PNG, or WebP.

See also: Related image formats include JPEG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF. Further information can be found in the BWB-01 specification and reference implementations.