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libheif

DEVOPS
Velocity0.0

HEIF and AVIF image file format library

github.com/strukturag/libheif ↗

The HEIF library quietly became a video decoder, then a scientific image container.

heifimage-sequencesmulti-spectralcodecsc-library
◆Current state
libheif is at 1.22.0. Two releases in this window changed what the library is for: 1.21.0 added full read and write support for HEIF image sequences, which also lets it decode most MP4 video, and 1.22.0 opened a public API for arbitrary image components with signed, float and complex pixel types. The releases between them are build fixes and a maintenance patch.
◆Where it's heading
libheif is expanding along two axes at once — time, via sequences and an x264 encoder plugin, and channel semantics, via multi-spectral and filter-array data that has nothing to do with human vision. The ISO/IEC 23001-17 rewrite that picks the codec path from the input is what makes the second axis practical rather than theoretical.
◆Prediction
The 1.22.0 notes say generic components are currently limited to the 23001-17 codec with JPEG 2000 to follow, so the next release most likely extends that component model to JPEG 2000 rather than opening a third front.

◆Recent moves

  1. 2mo ago

    v1.22.0 - generic image components, ISO/IEC 23001-17 (lossless images) rewrite

    ⚡ SPARK

    The second of the two releases that redefine the library's scope: arbitrary image components with non-visual pixel types, on top of a rearchitected lossless codec. It moves libheif from a photo container toward a general raster container.

    View source ↗
  2. 6mo ago

    v1.21.2 - bug fixes

    A bug-fix patch whose only additions are JPEG 2000 and uncompressed support in the JS/WASM build script, plus a sequence-metadata fix for the OpenH264 plugin. Build plumbing behind the 1.21 sequence work.

    View source ↗
  3. 7mo ago

    v1.21.1 - build fix

    A single missing include that broke builds on some GCC versions. The notes say to skip it if your build already worked.

    View source ↗
  4. 7mo ago

    v1.21.0 - image sequences

    ⚡ SPARK

    The release where a still-image library started handling time. Sequences, alpha in auxiliary tracks, edit-list repetition and an x264 plugin arrive together, and the FFmpeg decoder plugin picks up H.264 alongside H.265.

    View source ↗
  5. 1y ago

    v1.20.2 - maintenance release

    Maintenance: deferred size checks so very large tiled images can be decoded tile by tile, GIMI content ID fixes and a CMake switch to drop the SDL dependency. Small corrections around the sequence work.

    View source ↗
  6. 1y ago

    v1.20.1 - plugin loading bugfix

    A one-bug patch in decoder plugin loading, explicitly unnecessary for anyone not using plugins.

    View source ↗