LizardTech Releases MrSID Decode SDK 8.0

Developers can add support for MG4 files created with LizardTech GeoExpress 8.

SEATTLE, Wash - LizardTech®, a division of Celartem Inc. and a leading provider of software solutions for managing and distributing geospatial content, announced the release of the 8.0 version of the MrSID® Decode SDK (DSDK) to complement the recent release of LizardTech GeoExpress™ 8. This SDK gives developers tools to support viewing files in the MrSID Generation 4 (MG4™) format, unveiled with the recent launch of GeoExpress 8, which adds support for multispectral data, alpha channels and improved mosaicking.

"Last year we introduced an updated MrSID DSDK for LiDAR data and now we're adding support for raster data. This release of the MrSID DSDK allows third-party developers to add support for viewing and decoding data compressed to any version of the MrSID file format," said Jon Skiffington, director of product management. "We're excited to offer this SDK to our partners and look forward to the release of their products that support MG4 as well as MrSID Generation 3 and MrSID Generation 2."

MG4 is the new version of the LizardTech MrSID file format that the geospatial industry has relied on for years. MG4 accommodates new technologies for analyzing the earth by supporting hyperspectral imagery, LiDAR point cloud data, and multiterabyte datasets. With MG4 users can losslessly compress their geospatial data, mosaic datasets together, color balance raster imagery, and manipulate data in many other ways. LiDAR data compressed to MG4 can be viewed in Merrick MARS, Overwatch LiDAR Analyst, ESRI 3D Analyst, and LizardTech's free GeoViewer. Raster imagery compressed to MG4 can be viewed with either of LizardTech's free viewers.