WIC Support and Codec Availability

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Mario

IMatch supports the Windows Imaging Component (WIC) framework supported in Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista, Windows 7 and later versions of Windows.

WIC allows applications like IMatch to work with image formats via so-called codecs provided by camera and other hardware vendors. Without the need to know the internal details of a file format, IMatch can handle the files as long as a working codec is installed.

In addition to the built-in support for over 100 file formats, the support of components provided by camera vendors, WIC is the third level of support for digital camera RAW formats in IMatch.

Please ensure that you have always installed the latest RAW codec (WIC codec) from your camera vendor’s web site. This ensures that IMatch can read and reproduce the images with the best possible quality.
If you work with scanners, your hardware vendor most likely also supplies a codec if the scanner emits a proprietary file format.

Note: Do not install multiple codecs from different vendors for the same RAW format. Experience tells that this may lead to more or less subtle problems when processing RAW files.

32-Bit and 64-Bit

The installed codecs must match the operating system’s bitness. If you run a 64-Bit version of Windows you need to install the 64-Bit variant of the RAW codecs provided by your camera vendor.

If your camera vendor does not offer 64-Bit codecs consider using the Microsoft Codec Pack or purchasing the FastPictureViewer codec pack for full WIC support in Windows Explorer, IMatch and other applications on 64-Bit Windows versions.

WIC Codec Download Sites

This is a list I compiled from various sources. Let me know if a vendor is missing or a link is wrong.

See also this Wikipedia article for more information about WIC and the Microsoft  Windows Imaging Component Overview

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