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Image MIME Reference
DICOM-RLE

DICOM Run-Length Encoding

image/dicom-rle
VS

MacPaint Image

image/x-macpaint
MacPaint

A complete technical comparison of DICOM Run-Length Encoding and MacPaint Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature DICOM-RLE MacPaint
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No ✕ No
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
DICOM Run-Length Encoding
image/dicom-rle
Extension
.dcm.dicom
Container DICOM (PS3.10)
Compression Lossless (RLE)
Algorithm
Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
Color Depth 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit
Developed by National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) / ACR
Released 1993
Magic Bytes
44 49 43 4D (at byte offset 128)
Full DICOM-RLE reference →
MacPaint Image
image/x-macpaint
Extension
.mac.pntg.pnt.macp
Container Raw pixel payload with a 512-byte pattern header
Compression PackBits (Run-Length Encoding)
Algorithm
PackBits (Apple RLE)
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome)
Developed by Apple Computer, Inc. (Bill Atkinson)
Released 1984
Magic Bytes
None (Relies on classic Mac OS 'PNTG' OSType)
Full MacPaint reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser DICOM-RLE MacPaint
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
DICOM-RLE

DICOM-RLE Strengths

  • Guarantees lossless preservation of critical medical data necessary for diagnostics
  • Extremely robust metadata structure containing patient information, modality, and spatial geometry
  • Faster to encode and decode than complex compression schemes like JPEG 2000
Limitations
  • RLE compression offers very low compression ratios compared to modern codecs like JPEG-LS or JPEG 2000
  • Zero support in web browsers or standard consumer image viewers
  • Strict data privacy regulations (HIPAA/GDPR) make handling DICOM files complex due to embedded PHI
MacPaint

MacPaint Strengths

  • Profoundly historically significant as the format that introduced millions to the concept of bitmap digital painting
  • Extremely simple PackBits compression makes it easy for emulator developers or archivists to write parsers from scratch in under an hour
Limitations
  • Severely limited: strictly black and white, and hard-locked to exactly 576 x 720 pixels
  • Lack of standard magic bytes makes programmatic file sniffing unreliable on modern filesystems without relying on the file extension
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported by modern web browsers or consumer image viewers

When to choose which format

DICOM-RLE
Use DICOM-RLE when…
  • Medical Imaging
  • Ultrasound
  • X-Rays / CT / MRI
  • PACS Archives
MacPaint
Use MacPaint when…
  • Historical Apple Macintosh Archival
  • Early 1980s Digital Art Preservation
  • Retro UI/UX Academic Research

More comparisons

DICOM-RLE vs ACES → MacPaint vs ACES → DICOM-RLE vs APNG → MacPaint vs APNG → DICOM-RLE vs AVCI → MacPaint vs AVCI → DICOM-RLE vs AVCS → MacPaint vs AVCS → DICOM-RLE vs AVIF → MacPaint vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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