BITMAPINFOHEADER structure

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BITMAPINFOHEADER structure

The BITMAPINFOHEADER structure contains information about the dimensions and color format of a DIB.

Syntax

C++

typedef struct tagBITMAPINFOHEADER {
  DWORD biSize;
  LONG  biWidth;
  LONG  biHeight;
  WORD  biPlanes;
  WORD  biBitCount;
  DWORD biCompression;
  DWORD biSizeImage;
  LONG  biXPelsPerMeter;
  LONG  biYPelsPerMeter;
  DWORD biClrUsed;
  DWORD biClrImportant;
} BITMAPINFOHEADER, *PBITMAPINFOHEADER;

Members

biSize

The number of bytes required by the structure.

biWidth

The width of the bitmap, in pixels.

If biCompression is BI_JPEG or BI_PNG, the biWidth member specifies the width of the decompressed JPEG or PNG image file, respectively.

biHeight

The height of the bitmap, in pixels. If biHeight is positive, the bitmap is a bottom-up DIB and its origin is the lower-left corner. If biHeight is negative, the bitmap is a top-down DIB and its origin is the upper-left corner.

If biHeight is negative, indicating a top-down DIB, biCompression must be either BI_RGB or BI_BITFIELDS. Top-down DIBs cannot be compressed.

If biCompression is BI_JPEG or BI_PNG, the biHeight member specifies the height of the decompressed JPEG or PNG image file, respectively.

biPlanes

The number of planes for the target device. This value must be set to 1.

biBitCount

The number of bits-per-pixel. The biBitCount member of the BITMAPINFOHEADER structure determines the number of bits that define each pixel and the maximum number of colors in the bitmap. This member must be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
0	The number of bits-per-pixel is specified or is implied by the JPEG or PNG format.
1	The bitmap is monochrome, and the bmiColors member of BITMAPINFO contains two entries. Each bit in the bitmap array represents a pixel. If the bit is clear, the pixel is displayed with the color of the first entry in the bmiColors table; if the bit is set, the pixel has the color of the second entry in the table.
4	The bitmap has a maximum of 16 colors, and the bmiColors member of BITMAPINFOcontains up to 16 entries. Each pixel in the bitmap is represented by a 4-bit index into the color table. For example, if the first byte in the bitmap is 0x1F, the byte represents two pixels. The first pixel contains the color in the second table entry, and the second pixel contains the color in the sixteenth table entry.
8	The bitmap has a maximum of 256 colors, and the bmiColors member of BITMAPINFOcontains up to 256 entries. In this case, each byte in the array represents a single pixel.
16	The bitmap has a maximum of 2^16 colors. If the biCompression member of theBITMAPINFOHEADER is BI_RGB, the bmiColors member of BITMAPINFO is NULL. EachWORD in the bitmap array represents a single pixel. The relative intensities of red, green, and blue are represented with five bits for each color component. The value for blue is in the least significant five bits, followed by five bits each for green and red. The most significant bit is not used. The bmiColors color table is used for optimizing colors used on palette-based devices, and must contain the number of entries specified by the biClrUsed member of theBITMAPINFOHEADER. If the biCompression member of the BITMAPINFOHEADER is BI_BITFIELDS, the bmiColorsmember contains three DWORD color masks that specify the red, green, and blue components, respectively, of each pixel. Each WORD in the bitmap array represents a single pixel. When the biCompression member is BI_BITFIELDS, bits set in each DWORD mask must be contiguous and should not overlap the bits of another mask. All the bits in the pixel do not have to be used.
24	The bitmap has a maximum of 2^24 colors, and the bmiColors member of BITMAPINFO isNULL. Each 3-byte triplet in the bitmap array represents the relative intensities of blue, green, and red, respectively, for a pixel. The bmiColors color table is used for optimizing colors used on palette-based devices, and must contain the number of entries specified by the biClrUsedmember of the BITMAPINFOHEADER.
32	The bitmap has a maximum of 2^32 colors. If the biCompression member of theBITMAPINFOHEADER is BI_RGB, the bmiColors member of BITMAPINFO is NULL. EachDWORD in the bitmap array represents the relative intensities of blue, green, and red for a pixel. The value for blue is in the least significant 8 bits, followed by 8 bits each for green and red. The high byte in each DWORD is not used. The bmiColors color table is used for optimizing colors used on palette-based devices, and must contain the number of entries specified by the biClrUsed member of the BITMAPINFOHEADER. If the biCompression member of the BITMAPINFOHEADER is BI_BITFIELDS, the bmiColorsmember contains three DWORD color masks that specify the red, green, and blue components, respectively, of each pixel. Each DWORD in the bitmap array represents a single pixel. When the biCompression member is BI_BITFIELDS, bits set in each DWORD mask must be contiguous and should not overlap the bits of another mask. All the bits in the pixel do not need to be used.

 

biCompression

The type of compression for a compressed bottom-up bitmap (top-down DIBs cannot be compressed). This member can be one of the following values.

Value	Description
BI_RGB	An uncompressed format.
BI_RLE8	A run-length encoded (RLE) format for bitmaps with 8 bpp. The compression format is a 2-byte format consisting of a count byte followed by a byte containing a color index. For more information, see Bitmap Compression.
BI_RLE4	An RLE format for bitmaps with 4 bpp. The compression format is a 2-byte format consisting of a count byte followed by two word-length color indexes. For more information, see Bitmap Compression.
BI_BITFIELDS	Specifies that the bitmap is not compressed and that the color table consists of threeDWORD color masks that specify the red, green, and blue components, respectively, of each pixel. This is valid when used with 16- and 32-bpp bitmaps.
BI_JPEG	Indicates that the image is a JPEG image.
BI_PNG	Indicates that the image is a PNG image.

 

biSizeImage

The size, in bytes, of the image. This may be set to zero for BI_RGB bitmaps.

If biCompression is BI_JPEG or BI_PNG, biSizeImage indicates the size of the JPEG or PNG image buffer, respectively.

biXPelsPerMeter

The horizontal resolution, in pixels-per-meter, of the target device for the bitmap. An application can use this value to select a bitmap from a resource group that best matches the characteristics of the current device.

biYPelsPerMeter

The vertical resolution, in pixels-per-meter, of the target device for the bitmap.

biClrUsed

The number of color indexes in the color table that are actually used by the bitmap. If this value is zero, the bitmap uses the maximum number of colors corresponding to the value of the biBitCount member for the compression mode specified by biCompression.

If biClrUsed is nonzero and the biBitCount member is less than 16, the biClrUsed member specifies the actual number of colors the graphics engine or device driver accesses. If biBitCount is 16 or greater, thebiClrUsed member specifies the size of the color table used to optimize performance of the system color palettes. If biBitCount equals 16 or 32, the optimal color palette starts immediately following the threeDWORD masks.

When the bitmap array immediately follows the BITMAPINFO structure, it is a packed bitmap. Packed bitmaps are referenced by a single pointer. Packed bitmaps require that the biClrUsed member must be either zero or the actual size of the color table.

biClrImportant

The number of color indexes that are required for displaying the bitmap. If this value is zero, all colors are required.