Digital Picture Exchange

Digital Picture Exchange
Filename extension
.dpx
Internet media typeimage/dpx
Developed bySMPTE
Initial release1.0 / 18 February 1994; 30 years ago (1994-02-18)
Latest release
2.0HDR
2018; 6 years ago (2018)
Type of formatImage file formats
Extended fromCineon
StandardST 268-1:2014,[1] ST 268-2:2018[2]
Open format?non-free SMPTE standard, USD 175
Websitewww.smpte.org

Digital Picture Exchange (DPX) is a common file format for digital intermediate and visual effects work and is a SMPTE standard (ST 268-1:2014). The file format is most commonly used to represent the density of each colour channel of a scanned negative film in an uncompressed "logarithmic" image where the gamma of the original camera negative is preserved as taken by a film scanner. For this reason, DPX is the worldwide-chosen format for still frames storage in most digital intermediate post-production facilities and film labs. Other common video formats are supported as well (see below), from video to purely digital ones, making DPX a file format suitable for almost any raster digital imaging applications. DPX provides, in fact, a great deal of flexibility in storing colour information, colour spaces and colour planes for exchange between production facilities. Multiple forms of packing and alignment are possible. The DPX specification allows for a wide variety of metadata to further clarify information stored (and storable) within each file.

The DPX file format was originally derived from the Kodak Cineon open file format (.cin file extension) used for digital images generated by Kodak's original film scanner. The original DPX (version 1.0) specifications are part of SMPTE 268M-1994.[3] The specification was later improved and published by SMPTE as ANSI/SMPTE 268M-2003. Academy Density Exchange (ADX) support for the Academy Color Encoding System are added in the current version of the standard SMPTE ST 268-1:2014. Extensions for high-dynamic-range video and wide color gamut are standardized in SMPTE ST 268-2:2018.

  1. ^ ST 268-1:2014 - SMPTE Standard - File Format for Digital Moving-Picture Exchange (DPX). SMPTE. doi:10.5594/SMPTE.ST268-1.2014. ISBN 978-1-68303-083-6.
  2. ^ ST 268-2:2018 - SMPTE Standard - Digital Moving-Picture Exchange (DPX) – Format Extensions for High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut. SMPTE. doi:10.5594/SMPTE.ST268-2.2018. ISBN 978-1-68303-161-1. S2CID 252588275.
  3. ^ "Cineon Image File Format Draft". Cineon. Archived from the original on 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2014-03-01.