FastRawViewer Developers Blog

Dispelling a Myth: Viewing RAW is Impossible

"There is not much sense in RAW viewers - one can't view "RAW images" anyway because RAW is not an image at all".

Yes, how often do we hear this myth: RAW is not an image. This particular misconception is extremely convenient and is often used as an excuse by those trying to explain why it is only natural that most image viewers display embedded JPEG instead of RAW, JPEG-based histogram instead of RAW histogram, and over- and underexposure indicators derived from JPEG previews.

The culprit here is that a JPEG is considered to be instantly viewable, because it contains a "processed image", while a RAW needs conversion ("development"), as it is a "latent image".

In fact, RAW is an image, but in a less familiar format.

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