The transfer syntax UID in (0002,0010) of the
file meta information says how the rest of the
file is encoded: explicit or implicit VR, byte order, whether the whole data set is
deflated, and how the pixel data is
compressed. This is the full registry of DICOM PS3.6 Annex A.
Data set encodings
| UID | Name | Encoding |
|---|---|---|
1.2.840.10008.1.2 | Implicit VR Little Endian | The default transfer syntax for DICOM. No VRs, little endian, native pixels. |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.1 | Explicit VR Little Endian | VRs written, little endian, native pixels. Always used for group 0002. |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.1.98 | Encapsulated Uncompressed Explicit VR Little Endian | Uncompressed pixels, but encapsulated in fragments so frames can be found and sent one at a time. |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.1.99 | Deflated Explicit VR Little Endian | The whole data set after group 0002 is compressed with Deflate (RFC 1951, no zlib header). |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.2 | Explicit VR Big Endian | Retired in 2011. Numbers most significant byte first. |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.8.1 | Deflated Image Frame Compression | Each frame of pixel data compressed with Deflate, encapsulated. |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.6.1 | RFC 2557 MIME encapsulation | Retired in 2018. |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.6.2 | XML Encoding | Retired in 2018. |
1.2.840.10008.1.20 | Papyrus 3 Implicit VR Little Endian | Retired in 2015. |
Every syntax below is explicit VR little endian with encapsulated pixel data, except where noted.
JPEG
Each frame is a JPEG interchange format stream (not JFIF) with its tables, in one or more fragments.
| UID | Name | Status |
|---|---|---|
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.50 | JPEG Baseline (Process 1): default for lossy JPEG 8-bit | Active |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.51 | JPEG Extended (Process 2 and 4): default for lossy JPEG 12-bit | Active |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.52 | JPEG Extended (Process 3 and 5) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.53 | JPEG Spectral Selection, Non-Hierarchical (Process 6 and 8) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.54 | JPEG Spectral Selection, Non-Hierarchical (Process 7 and 9) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.55 | JPEG Full Progression, Non-Hierarchical (Process 10 and 12) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.56 | JPEG Full Progression, Non-Hierarchical (Process 11 and 13) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.57 | JPEG Lossless, Non-Hierarchical (Process 14) | Active |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.58 | JPEG Lossless, Non-Hierarchical (Process 15) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.59 | JPEG Extended, Hierarchical (Process 16 and 18) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.60 | JPEG Extended, Hierarchical (Process 17 and 19) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.61 | JPEG Spectral Selection, Hierarchical (Process 20 and 22) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.62 | JPEG Spectral Selection, Hierarchical (Process 21 and 23) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.63 | JPEG Full Progression, Hierarchical (Process 24 and 26) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.64 | JPEG Full Progression, Hierarchical (Process 25 and 27) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.65 | JPEG Lossless, Hierarchical (Process 28) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.66 | JPEG Lossless, Hierarchical (Process 29) | Retired 2001 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.70 | JPEG Lossless, Non-Hierarchical, First-Order Prediction (Process 14, selection value 1): default for lossless JPEG | Active |
JPEG-LS, JPEG 2000 and JPEG XL
| UID | Name |
|---|---|
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.80 | JPEG-LS Lossless Image Compression |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.81 | JPEG-LS Lossy (Near-Lossless) Image Compression |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.90 | JPEG 2000 Image Compression (Lossless Only) |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.91 | JPEG 2000 Image Compression |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.92 | JPEG 2000 Part 2 Multi-component Image Compression (Lossless Only) |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.93 | JPEG 2000 Part 2 Multi-component Image Compression |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.201 | High-Throughput JPEG 2000 Image Compression (Lossless Only) |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.202 | High-Throughput JPEG 2000 with RPCL Options Image Compression (Lossless Only) |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.203 | High-Throughput JPEG 2000 Image Compression |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.110 | JPEG XL Lossless |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.111 | JPEG XL JPEG Recompression |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.112 | JPEG XL |
JPIP
With these syntaxes the pixels are not in the file: Pixel Data Provider URL
(0028,7FE0) points to a JPIP server. They are used on the network, not in
files.
| UID | Name |
|---|---|
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.94 | JPIP Referenced |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.95 | JPIP Referenced Deflate |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.204 | JPIP HTJ2K Referenced |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.205 | JPIP HTJ2K Referenced Deflate |
Video
The whole video stream is the pixel data. The fragmentable variants (UIDs ending
.1) allow the stream to be split across several fragments.
| UID | Name |
|---|---|
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.100 | MPEG2 Main Profile / Main Level |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.100.1 | Fragmentable MPEG2 Main Profile / Main Level |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.101 | MPEG2 Main Profile / High Level |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.101.1 | Fragmentable MPEG2 Main Profile / High Level |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.102 | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile / Level 4.1 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.102.1 | Fragmentable MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile / Level 4.1 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.103 | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 BD-compatible High Profile / Level 4.1 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.103.1 | Fragmentable MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 BD-compatible High Profile / Level 4.1 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.104 | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile / Level 4.2 For 2D Video |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.104.1 | Fragmentable MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile / Level 4.2 For 2D Video |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.105 | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile / Level 4.2 For 3D Video |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.105.1 | Fragmentable MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile / Level 4.2 For 3D Video |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.106 | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Stereo High Profile / Level 4.2 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.106.1 | Fragmentable MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Stereo High Profile / Level 4.2 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.107 | HEVC/H.265 Main Profile / Level 5.1 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.108 | HEVC/H.265 Main 10 Profile / Level 5.1 |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.7.1 | SMPTE ST 2110-20 Uncompressed Progressive Active Video |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.7.2 | SMPTE ST 2110-20 Uncompressed Interlaced Active Video |
1.2.840.10008.1.2.7.3 | SMPTE ST 2110-30 PCM Digital Audio |
The SMPTE ST 2110 syntaxes are for real-time network streams rather than files.
RLE
| UID | Name |
|---|---|
1.2.840.10008.1.2.5 | RLE Lossless: DICOM’s own run-length coding, one fragment per frame (see pixel data) |