Digital Camera Codec Pack For Windows
The FastPictureViewer WIC Codec pack adds support for more than 580 different digital camera models to the Windows operating system.
Microsoft introduced the Windows Imaging Component (WIC) in the Windows Vista operating system. WIC will also be included in Windows 7 and likely in future operating systems as well (Update: included in Windows 7 and newer systems including Windows 10).
The Windows Imaging Component makes it easier for third parties to create codecs that tightly integrate in the operating system, for instance by adding automatic support for displaying thumbnails in Windows Explorer, or preview and slideshow support in Windows Photo Gallery, or meta tag search options.
Many digital camera manufacturers on the other hand have not created codecs that support the framework and both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows.
FastPictureViewer WIC Codec pack
That's where the FastPictureViewer WIC Codec pack comes into play which is a collection of digital camera codecs for about 580 different digital camera models that make use of the framework under 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows.
Update: Please note that the codec pack is not free anymore but available for $9.99 at the FastPictureViewer website. A 15-day trial is provided.
The codecs are automatically used by programs that support WIC which includes most of Microsoft's own software programs including Windows Media Center, Windows Live Photo Gallery, the developer's FastPictureViewer and all Microsoft .net Framework 3 and newer applications.
The Codec Pack supports raw formats from digital cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Hasselblad, Fuji, Panasonic, Leica and more, as well as Adobe DNG, Photoshop PSD, Google SketchUp (thumbnails), and Computer Graphics image formats including OpenEXR, Radiance HDR, TGA, Softimage PIC, Autodesk Maya IFF, PNM, and DirectX DDS including ATI 3Dc compression.
The digital camera codec pack is available at the developer's website. It adds support for the following formats and many others.
- *.tga, *.tpic Truevision Targa (TGA) Supports most format flavors: uncompressed and RLE-encoded grayscale 8 and 16-bit, true color 15, 16, 24 and 32-bit (with alpha) and 8-bit indexed with 15, 16, 24 and 32-bit colormap.
- *.dng Adobe Digital Negative BETA
- *.cr2, *.crw Canon Raw Images BETA
- *.raf Fuji Raw Images BETA
- *.3pr, *.fff Hasselblad Raw Images BETA
- *.kdc, *.dcr Kodak Raw Images BETA
- *.raw, *.rwl Leica Raw Images BETA
- *.mrw Minolta Raw Images BETA
- *.nef, *.nrw Nikon Raw Images BETA
- *.orf Olympus Raw Images BETA
- *.rw2 Panasonic Raw Images BETA
- *.pef Pentax Raw Images BETA
- *.sr2, *.arw Sony Raw Images BETA
- All formats Thumbnail provider for XP Provides support for thumbnail views in Windows XP Explorer, for all the above format variants.
The developer is currently investigating possibilities to add additional codecs to the codec pack. Check out the website for more information.
Awesome stuff!!!