zenpixels

Pixel format types and transfer-function-aware conversion for Rust image codecs.

A JPEG decoder gives you RGB8 in sRGB. An AVIF decoder gives you RGBA16 in BT.2020 PQ. A resize library wants RGBF32 in linear light. Without shared types, every codec pair needs hand-rolled conversion — and gets transfer functions wrong, silently drops alpha, or writes "sRGB" in the ICC profile while the pixels are linear.

zenpixels makes pixel format descriptions first-class types that travel with the data. The conversion crate handles transfer functions, gamut matrices, depth scaling, and alpha compositing so codecs don't have to.

Two crates: zenpixels (types, buffers, metadata) and zenpixels-convert (all the math). Both are no_std + alloc, forbid(unsafe_code), no system dependencies.

# Types only — for codec crates
zenpixels = "0.2"

# Types + conversion — for processing pipelines
zenpixels-convert = "0.2"

Quick start

use zenpixels_convert::{RowConverter, best_match, ConvertIntent};

// Pick the cheapest target format the encoder supports
let target = best_match(source_desc, &encoder_formats, ConvertIntent::Fastest)
    .ok_or("no compatible format")?;

// Pre-compute the plan, then convert row by row — no per-row allocation
let mut converter = RowConverter::new(source_desc, target)?;
for y in 0..height {
    converter.convert_row(src_row, dst_row, width);
}

Type system

The core split: what the bytes are vs. what the bytes mean.

PixelFormat is a flat enum of byte layouts — channel count, depth, memory order. No color semantics.

Rgb8, Rgba8, Rgb16, Rgba16, RgbF32, RgbaF32,
Gray8, Gray16, GrayF32, GrayA8, GrayA16, GrayAF32,
Bgra8, Rgbx8, Bgrx8, OklabF32, OklabaF32

PixelDescriptor wraps a PixelFormat with everything needed to interpret the color data:

pub struct PixelDescriptor {
    pub format: PixelFormat,
    pub transfer: TransferFunction,    // Srgb, Linear, Pq, Hlg, Bt709, Unknown
    pub alpha: Option<AlphaMode>,      // Straight, Premultiplied, Opaque, Undefined
    pub primaries: ColorPrimaries,     // Bt709, DisplayP3, Bt2020, Unknown
    pub signal_range: SignalRange,     // Full or Narrow
}

Every buffer carries one. Every codec declares which ones it produces and consumes. 40+ predefined constants:

PixelDescriptor::RGB8_SRGB        // u8 RGB, sRGB transfer, BT.709 primaries
PixelDescriptor::RGBAF32_LINEAR   // f32 RGBA, linear light
PixelDescriptor::BGRA8_SRGB       // u8 BGRA (Windows/DirectX order)
PixelDescriptor::OKLABF32         // f32 Oklab L,a,b

CICP and ICC

Cicp carries ITU-T H.273 code points (used by AVIF, HEIF, JPEG XL, AV1). Named constants for SRGB, DISPLAY_P3, BT2100_PQ, BT2100_HLG. Human-readable name lookups via color_primaries_name() etc.

ColorContext bundles ICC profile bytes and/or CICP codes. Travels with pixel data via Arc — cheap to clone, cheap to share across pipeline stages.

ColorOrigin is the immutable provenance record: how the source file described its color, not what the pixels currently are. Used at encode time to decide whether to re-embed the original profile.

Orientation

Orientation is the canonical EXIF orientation enum for the zen ecosystem. #[repr(u8)] with EXIF values 1-8, so o as u8 gives the tag value directly.

All 8 elements of the D4 dihedral group, with full composition algebra:

use zenpixels::Orientation;

let combined = Orientation::Rotate90.then(Orientation::FlipH);
assert_eq!(combined, Orientation::Transpose);

let undone = Orientation::Rotate90.compose(Orientation::Rotate90.inverse());
assert_eq!(undone, Orientation::Identity);

let (w, h) = Orientation::Rotate90.output_dimensions(1920, 1080);
assert_eq!((w, h), (1080, 1920));

Pixel buffers

PixelBuffer, PixelSlice, and PixelSliceMut carry their PixelDescriptor and optional ColorContext. Generic over P: Pixel for compile-time type safety, with zero-cost .erase() / .try_typed::<Q>() for dynamic dispatch.

// Typed buffer — format enforced at compile time
let buf = PixelBuffer::<Rgba<u8>>::from_pixels(pixels, width, height)?;

// Type-erased for codec dispatch
let erased = buf.erase();

// Recover the type
let typed = erased.try_typed::<Rgba<u8>>().unwrap();

Data access

Row-level: row(y) returns pixel bytes without padding. row_with_stride(y) includes padding.

Bulk: as_strided_bytes() returns the full backing &[u8] including stride padding — zero-copy passthrough to GPU uploads, codec writers, or anything that takes a buffer + stride. as_contiguous_bytes() returns Some only when rows are tightly packed. contiguous_bytes() returns Cow — borrows when tight, copies to strip padding otherwise.

Views: sub_rows(y, count) and crop_view(x, y, w, h) are zero-copy. crop_copy() allocates.

Allocation

try_new() for tight stride, try_new_simd_aligned() for SIMD-aligned rows, from_vec() to wrap an existing allocation. All constructors validate dimensions, stride, and alignment. into_vec() recovers the allocation for pool reuse.

Interop

With imgref feature: From<ImgRef<P>>, From<ImgVec<P>>, as_imgref(), try_as_imgref::<P>() and mutable counterparts. With rgb feature: Pixel impls for Rgb<u8>, Rgba<u8>, Gray<u8>, BGRA<u8>, and their u16/f32 variants.

Conversion

zenpixels-convert re-exports everything from zenpixels, so downstream code can depend on it alone.

Row conversion

RowConverter pre-computes a conversion plan from a source/target descriptor pair. Three tiers:

1. Direct kernels for common pairs (byte swizzle, depth shift, transfer function LUTs)
2. Composed plans for less common pairs (e.g., RGB8_SRGB to RGBA16_LINEAR)
3. Hub path through linear sRGB f32 as universal fallback

Format negotiation

The cost model separates effort (CPU work) from loss (information destroyed). ConvertIntent controls weighting:

Intent	Effort	Loss	Use case
Fastest	4x	1x	Encoding — get there fast
LinearLight	1x	4x	Resize, blur — need linear math
Blend	1x	4x	Compositing — premultiplied alpha
Perceptual	1x	3x	Color grading, sharpening

Provenance tracking lets the cost model know that f32 data decoded from a u8 JPEG has zero loss converting back to u8.

Three entry points: best_match() (simple), best_match_with() (with consumer costs), negotiate() (full control with provenance).

No silent lossy conversions

Every operation that destroys information requires an explicit policy via ConvertOptions:

• Alpha removal: DiscardIfOpaque, CompositeOnto { r, g, b }, DiscardUnchecked, or Forbid
• Depth reduction: Round, Truncate, or Forbid
• RGB to gray: requires explicit luma coefficients (Bt709 or Bt601), or None to forbid

Convenience constructors: ConvertOptions::forbid_lossy() (safe default) and ConvertOptions::permissive() (sensible lossy defaults), with with_alpha_policy(), with_depth_policy(), etc. for customization.

Atomic output assembly

finalize_for_output couples converted pixels with matching encoder metadata in one step. Prevents the bug where pixel values don't match the embedded ICC/CICP profile.

Gamut, HDR, Oklab

Gamut matrices — 3x3 row-major f32 between BT.709, Display P3, BT.2020. No CMS needed for named-profile conversions.

HDR — Reinhard and exposure tone mapping, ContentLightLevel and MasteringDisplay metadata.

Oklab — primaries-aware rgb_to_lms_matrix() / lms_to_rgb_matrix(), scalar rgb_to_oklab() / oklab_to_rgb(), public LMS/XYZ/Oklab matrices. Non-sRGB sources get correct LMS matrices without an intermediate sRGB step.

CMS — ColorManagement and RowTransform traits for ICC-to-ICC transforms. The cms-moxcms feature provides a concrete backend using moxcms, supporting u8/u16/f32 transforms with automatic profile identification.

Pipeline planner

CodecFormats declares each codec's decode outputs and encode inputs, ICC/CICP support, effective bits, and overshoot behavior. The pipeline feature enables the format registry, operation requirements, and path solver for multi-step conversion planning.

Planar support

With the planar feature: PlaneLayout, PlaneDescriptor, PlaneSemantic, Subsampling (4:2:0/4:2:2/4:4:4/4:1:1), YuvMatrix, and MultiPlaneImage container. Handles YCbCr, Oklab planes, gain maps, and separate alpha planes.

Features

zenpixels

Feature	Default	What it enables
std	yes	Standard library (currently a no-op; everything is no_std + alloc)
rgb		Pixel impls for rgb crate types, typed from_pixels() constructors
imgref		From<ImgRef> / From<ImgVec> conversions (implies rgb)
planar		Multi-plane image types (YCbCr, Oklab, gain maps)

zenpixels-convert

Feature	Default	What it enables
std	yes	Standard library
rgb		Pixel impls for rgb crate types, typed convenience methods (to_rgb8(), to_rgba8(), etc.)
imgref		ImgRef/ImgVec conversions (implies rgb)
planar		Multi-plane image types
pipeline		Pipeline planner: format registry, operation requirements, path solver
cms-moxcms		ICC profile transforms via moxcms (implies std)

MSRV

Rust 1.93+, 2024 edition.

License

Apache-2.0 OR MIT