| Extension | .rle |
| Category | images |
| Description | The RLE (Run-Length Encoding) format is a simple bitmap image format that uses run-length encoding to compress image data. It was commonly used in the early days of computer graphics and is still supported by some software today. |
| Technical details | RLE-encoded images are stored as a series of scanlines, with each scanline consisting of a series of RLE-encoded packets. Each packet contains a count of the number of pixels to be repeated, followed by the pixel value to be repeated. The count is stored in a single byte, which limits the maximum run length to 255 pixels.
The RLE format supports both monochrome and color images, with color images using either 8-bit or 24-bit color depth. In the case of 8-bit color depth, the image is stored as a series of color indices, while in the case of 24-bit color depth, each pixel is represented as three consecutive bytes in the order of red, green, and blue. |
