Read in Raw Binary Image in Python

Question

I have a very simple script in Matlab that opens a 'raw' binary image file and displays it. Is this easily reproducible using numpy in python? I've come across various posts discussing unpacking, dealing with endian, specifying buffers, etc. But this seems like it should be simple, based on how simple the matlab interface is

>> fileID = fopen('sampleX3.raw','rb')

fileID =

     1

>> A = fread(fileID,[1024,1024],'int16');
size(A)

ans =

        1024        1024

>> max(max(A))

ans =

       12345

>> close all; figure; imagesc(A);

Did you try openCV? it designed for computer vision...

Vasiliy Stavenko
– Vasiliy Stavenko

2013-07-04 23:44:28 +00:00
Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 23:44 — Vasiliy Stavenko
– Vasiliy Stavenko, Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 23:44

Bi Rico · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-04 23:57:58Z

11

This will do the same thing using numpy and matplotlib:

import numpy as np
from matplotlib import pylab as plt

A = np.fromfile(filename, dtype='int16', sep="")
A = A.reshape([1024, 1024])
plt.imshow(A)

I feel obligated to mention that using raw binary files to store data is generally a bad idea.

answered Jul 4, 2013 at 23:57

Bi Rico

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2 Comments

Pablo Over a year ago

Why do you say that store data in a binary file is a bad idea?

Mutant Platypus Over a year ago

The original question had a square image, but keep in mind MATLAB uses row-major order and python uses column-major. You have to swap the numbers in the reshape function in Python and sizeA parameter given to fread in MATLAB.

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