PCO B16 Image
image/vnd.pco.b16
Released Early 2000s
· by PCO AG (Excelitas PCO GmbH)
The image/vnd.pco.b16 MIME type represents the proprietary B16 image format developed by PCO AG (now Excelitas PCO GmbH), a German manufacturer of high-end scientific and high-speed cameras. The format is a binary container designed to store uncompressed 16-bit raw pixel data directly from the camera sensor. Alongside the raw pixels, it stores vital acquisition metadata (such as exposure times, resolution, and sensor modes) in a structured header. It is widely used in microscopy, medical imaging, machine vision, and precise scientific research where standard 8-bit image formats would result in unacceptable data loss.
Technical Specifications
.b16
None
Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers
PCO-
Browser Support Matrix
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Not Supported | Legacy |
Advantages & Limitations
- Preserves exact, uncompressed 16-bit raw sensor data, which is critically important for accurate scientific measurements, fluorescence microscopy, and photometry
- The simple, linear struct header is highly predictable and easy to parse in custom Python, MATLAB, or C++ scripts for researchers building bespoke pipelines
- Generates massive file sizes due to the complete lack of image compression [1.3.1]
- Completely unsupported by standard operating systems, web browsers, and consumer image editing suites
- Strictly tied to the hardware and software ecosystems of a single camera manufacturer
Developer Code Snippets
File Detection Steps
How to programmatically detect a image/vnd.pco.b16
file by reading its raw bytes:
- 1 Check the first 4 bytes of the file for the ASCII identifier 'PCO-' (Hex: 50 43 4F 2D).
- 2 The subsequent bytes form the 'Basic Header' composed of Long Integers (32-bit, 4 Bytes each). Byte offset 0x04 contains the file size, 0x08 contains the header length, 0x0C contains the image width, and 0x10 contains the image height.
Software Support
Conversion Tools
Share & Embed
[](https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/pco-b16)
<iframe src="https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/pco-b16/embed" width="100%" height="280" style="border:1px solid #cbd5e1;border-radius:8px;" title="PCO-B16 Specs"></iframe>
JSON API
All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.
GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/pco-b16.json
Open JSON
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a PCO B16 file?
A PCO B16 file is a proprietary, uncompressed 16-bit binary image format used by PCO scientific cameras. It is typically generated by the PCO Camware software to save raw sensor data without the lossy compression or bit-depth truncation associated with standard image formats.
How do I open a B16 image file?
Because it is a highly specialized scientific format, standard consumer image viewers (like Windows Photos or macOS Preview) cannot open B16 files. You must use PCO's official Camware software, third-party tools like XnView, or scientific imaging software such as ImageJ/Fiji equipped with the Bio-Formats plugin.
What are the magic bytes for the PCO B16 format?
A standard PCO B16 file begins with a Basic Header. The first 4 bytes contain the ASCII file identifier "PCO-", which translates to the hexadecimal values 50 43 4F 2D.