xref: /lvgl-3.5.0/docs/overview/image.md

# Images

An image can be a file or a variable which stores the bitmap itself and some metadata.

## Store images
You can store images in two places
- as a variable in internal memory (RAM or ROM)
- as a file

### Variables
Images stored internally in a variable are composed mainly of an `lv_img_dsc_t` structure with the following fields:
- **header**
  - *cf* Color format. See [below](#color-format)
  - *w* width in pixels (<= 2048)
  - *h* height in pixels (<= 2048)
  - *always zero* 3 bits which need to be always zero
  - *reserved* reserved for future use
- **data** pointer to an array where the image itself is stored
- **data_size** length of `data` in bytes

These are usually stored within a project as C files. They are linked into the resulting executable like any other constant data.

### Files
To deal with files you need to add a storage *Drive* to LVGL. In short, a *Drive* is a collection of functions (*open*, *read*, *close*, etc.) registered in LVGL to make file operations.
You can add an interface to a standard file system (FAT32 on SD card) or you create your simple file system to read data from an SPI Flash memory.
In every case, a *Drive* is just an abstraction to read and/or write data to memory.
See the [File system](/overview/file-system) section to learn more.

Images stored as files are not linked into the resulting executable, and must be read into RAM before being drawn. As a result, they are not as resource-friendly as images linked at compile time. However, they are easier to replace without needing to rebuild the main program.

## Color formats
Various built-in color formats are supported:
- **LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR** Simply stores the RGB colors (in whatever color depth LVGL is configured for).
- **LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_ALPHA** Like `LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR` but it also adds an alpha (transparency) byte for every pixel.
- **LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_CHROMA_KEYED** Like `LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR` but if a pixel has the `LV_COLOR_TRANSP` color (set in *lv_conf.h*) it will be transparent.
- **LV_IMG_CF_INDEXED_1/2/4/8BIT** Uses a palette with 2, 4, 16 or 256 colors and stores each pixel in 1, 2, 4 or 8 bits.
- **LV_IMG_CF_ALPHA_1/2/4/8BIT** **Only stores the Alpha value with 1, 2, 4 or 8 bits.** The pixels take the color of `style.img_recolor` and the set opacity. The source image has to be an alpha channel. This is ideal for bitmaps similar to fonts where the whole image is one color that can be altered.

The bytes of `LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR` images are stored in the following order.

For 32-bit color depth:
- Byte 0: Blue
- Byte 1: Green
- Byte 2: Red
- Byte 3: Alpha

For 16-bit color depth:
- Byte 0: Green 3 lower bit, Blue 5 bit
- Byte 1: Red 5 bit, Green 3 higher bit
- Byte 2: Alpha byte (only with LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_ALPHA)

For 8-bit color depth:
- Byte 0: Red 3 bit, Green 3 bit, Blue 2 bit
- Byte 2: Alpha byte (only with LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_ALPHA)


You can store images in a *Raw* format to indicate that it's not encoded with one of the built-in color formats and an external [Image decoder](#image-decoder) needs to be used to decode the image.
- **LV_IMG_CF_RAW** Indicates a basic raw image (e.g. a PNG or JPG image).
- **LV_IMG_CF_RAW_ALPHA** Indicates that an image has alpha and an alpha byte is added for every pixel.
- **LV_IMG_CF_RAW_CHROMA_KEYED** Indicates that an image is chroma-keyed as described in `LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_CHROMA_KEYED` above.


## Add and use images

You can add images to LVGL in two ways:
- using the online converter
- manually create images

### Online converter
The online Image converter is available here: https://lvgl.io/tools/imageconverter

Adding an image to LVGL via the online converter is easy.

1. You need to select a *BMP*, *PNG* or *JPG* image first.
2. Give the image a name that will be used within LVGL.
3. Select the [Color format](#color-formats).
4. Select the type of image you want. Choosing a binary will generate a `.bin` file that must be stored separately and read using the [file support](#files). Choosing a variable will generate a standard C file that can be linked into your project.
5. Hit the *Convert* button. Once the conversion is finished, your browser will automatically download the resulting file.

In the generated C arrays (variables), bitmaps for all the color depths (1, 8, 16 or 32) are included in the C file, but only the color depth that matches `LV_COLOR_DEPTH` in *lv_conf.h* will actually be linked into the resulting executable.

In the case of binary files, you need to specify the color format you want:
- RGB332 for 8-bit color depth
- RGB565 for 16-bit color depth
- RGB565 Swap for 16-bit color depth (two bytes are swapped)
- RGB888 for 32-bit color depth

### Manually create an image
If you are generating an image at run-time, you can craft an image variable to display it using LVGL. For example:

```c
uint8_t my_img_data[] = {0x00, 0x01, 0x02, ...};

static lv_img_dsc_t my_img_dsc = {
    .header.always_zero = 0,
    .header.w = 80,
    .header.h = 60,
    .data_size = 80 * 60 * LV_COLOR_DEPTH / 8,
    .header.cf = LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR,          /*Set the color format*/
    .data = my_img_data,
};

```

If the color format is `LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_ALPHA` you can set `data_size` like `80 * 60 * LV_IMG_PX_SIZE_ALPHA_BYTE`.

Another (possibly simpler) option to create and display an image at run-time is to use the [Canvas](/widgets/core/canvas) object.

### Use images

The simplest way to use an image in LVGL is to display it with an [lv_img](/widgets/core/img) object:

```c
lv_obj_t * icon = lv_img_create(lv_scr_act(), NULL);

/*From variable*/
lv_img_set_src(icon, &my_icon_dsc);

/*From file*/
lv_img_set_src(icon, "S:my_icon.bin");
```

If the image was converted with the online converter, you should use `LV_IMG_DECLARE(my_icon_dsc)` to declare the image in the file where you want to use it.


## Image decoder
As you can see in the [Color formats](#color-formats) section, LVGL supports several built-in image formats. In many cases, these will be all you need. LVGL doesn't directly support, however, generic image formats like PNG or JPG.

To handle non-built-in image formats, you need to use external libraries and attach them to LVGL via the *Image decoder* interface.

An image decoder consists of 4 callbacks:
- **info** get some basic info about the image (width, height and color format).
- **open** open an image: either store a decoded image or set it to `NULL` to indicate the image can be read line-by-line.
- **read** if *open* didn't fully open an image this function should give some decoded data (max 1 line) from a given position.
- **close** close an opened image, free the allocated resources.

You can add any number of image decoders. When an image needs to be drawn, the library will try all the registered image decoders until it finds one which can open the image, i.e. one which knows that format.

The `LV_IMG_CF_TRUE_COLOR_...`, `LV_IMG_INDEXED_...` and `LV_IMG_ALPHA_...` formats (essentially, all non-`RAW` formats) are understood by the built-in decoder.

### Custom image formats

The easiest way to create a custom image is to use the online image converter and select `Raw`, `Raw with alpha` or `Raw with chroma-keyed` format. It will just take every byte of the binary file you uploaded and write it as an image "bitmap". You then need to attach an image decoder that will parse that bitmap and generate the real, renderable bitmap.

`header.cf` will be `LV_IMG_CF_RAW`, `LV_IMG_CF_RAW_ALPHA` or `LV_IMG_CF_RAW_CHROMA_KEYED` accordingly. You should choose the correct format according to your needs: a fully opaque image, using an alpha channel or using a chroma key.

After decoding, the *raw* formats are considered *True color* by the library. In other words, the image decoder must decode the *Raw* images to *True color* according to the format described in the [Color formats](#color-formats) section.

If you want to create a custom image, you should use `LV_IMG_CF_USER_ENCODED_0..7` color formats. However, the library can draw images only in *True color* format (or *Raw* but ultimately it will be in *True color* format).
The `LV_IMG_CF_USER_ENCODED_...` formats are not known by the library and therefore they should be decoded to one of the known formats from the [Color formats](#color-formats) section.
It's possible to decode an image to a non-true color format first (for example: `LV_IMG_INDEXED_4BITS`) and then call the built-in decoder functions to convert it to *True color*.

With *User encoded* formats, the color format in the open function (`dsc->header.cf`) should be changed according to the new format.


### Register an image decoder

Here's an example of getting LVGL to work with PNG images.

First, you need to create a new image decoder and set some functions to open/close the PNG files. It should look like this:

```c
/*Create a new decoder and register functions */
lv_img_decoder_t * dec = lv_img_decoder_create();
lv_img_decoder_set_info_cb(dec, decoder_info);
lv_img_decoder_set_open_cb(dec, decoder_open);
lv_img_decoder_set_close_cb(dec, decoder_close);


/**
 * Get info about a PNG image
 * @param decoder pointer to the decoder where this function belongs
 * @param src can be file name or pointer to a C array
 * @param header store the info here
 * @return LV_RES_OK: no error; LV_RES_INV: can't get the info
 */
static lv_res_t decoder_info(lv_img_decoder_t * decoder, const void * src, lv_img_header_t * header)
{
  /*Check whether the type `src` is known by the decoder*/
  if(is_png(src) == false) return LV_RES_INV;

  /* Read the PNG header and find `width` and `height` */
  ...

  header->cf = LV_IMG_CF_RAW_ALPHA;
  header->w = width;
  header->h = height;
}

/**
 * Open a PNG image and return the decided image
 * @param decoder pointer to the decoder where this function belongs
 * @param dsc pointer to a descriptor which describes this decoding session
 * @return LV_RES_OK: no error; LV_RES_INV: can't get the info
 */
static lv_res_t decoder_open(lv_img_decoder_t * decoder, lv_img_decoder_dsc_t * dsc)
{

  /*Check whether the type `src` is known by the decoder*/
  if(is_png(src) == false) return LV_RES_INV;

  /*Decode and store the image. If `dsc->img_data` is `NULL`, the `read_line` function will be called to get the image data line-by-line*/
  dsc->img_data = my_png_decoder(src);

  /*Change the color format if required. For PNG usually 'Raw' is fine*/
  dsc->header.cf = LV_IMG_CF_...

  /*Call a built in decoder function if required. It's not required if`my_png_decoder` opened the image in true color format.*/
  lv_res_t res = lv_img_decoder_built_in_open(decoder, dsc);

  return res;
}

/**
 * Decode `len` pixels starting from the given `x`, `y` coordinates and store them in `buf`.
 * Required only if the "open" function can't open the whole decoded pixel array. (dsc->img_data == NULL)
 * @param decoder pointer to the decoder the function associated with
 * @param dsc pointer to decoder descriptor
 * @param x start x coordinate
 * @param y start y coordinate
 * @param len number of pixels to decode
 * @param buf a buffer to store the decoded pixels
 * @return LV_RES_OK: ok; LV_RES_INV: failed
 */
lv_res_t decoder_built_in_read_line(lv_img_decoder_t * decoder, lv_img_decoder_dsc_t * dsc, lv_coord_t x,
                                                  lv_coord_t y, lv_coord_t len, uint8_t * buf)
{
   /*With PNG it's usually not required*/

   /*Copy `len` pixels from `x` and `y` coordinates in True color format to `buf` */

}

/**
 * Free the allocated resources
 * @param decoder pointer to the decoder where this function belongs
 * @param dsc pointer to a descriptor which describes this decoding session
 */
static void decoder_close(lv_img_decoder_t * decoder, lv_img_decoder_dsc_t * dsc)
{
  /*Free all allocated data*/

  /*Call the built-in close function if the built-in open/read_line was used*/
  lv_img_decoder_built_in_close(decoder, dsc);

}

```

So in summary:
- In `decoder_info`, you should collect some basic information about the image and store it in `header`.
- In `decoder_open`, you should try to open the image source pointed by `dsc->src`. Its type is already in `dsc->src_type == LV_IMG_SRC_FILE/VARIABLE`.
If this format/type is not supported by the decoder, return `LV_RES_INV`.
However, if you can open the image, a pointer to the decoded *True color* image should be set in `dsc->img_data`.
If the format is known, but you don't want to decode the entire image (e.g. no memory for it), set `dsc->img_data = NULL` and use `read_line` to get the pixel data.
- In `decoder_close` you should free all allocated resources.
- `decoder_read` is optional. Decoding the whole image requires extra memory and some computational overhead.
However, it can decode one line of the image without decoding the whole image, you can save memory and time.
To indicate that the *line read* function should be used, set `dsc->img_data = NULL` in the open function.


### Manually use an image decoder

LVGL will use registered image decoders automatically if you try and draw a raw image (i.e. using the `lv_img` object) but you can use them manually too. Create an `lv_img_decoder_dsc_t` variable to describe the decoding session and call `lv_img_decoder_open()`.

The `color` parameter is used only with `LV_IMG_CF_ALPHA_1/2/4/8BIT` images to tell color of the image.
`frame_id` can be used if the image to open is an animation.


```c

lv_res_t res;
lv_img_decoder_dsc_t dsc;
res = lv_img_decoder_open(&dsc, &my_img_dsc, color, frame_id);

if(res == LV_RES_OK) {
  /*Do something with `dsc->img_data`*/
  lv_img_decoder_close(&dsc);
}

```


## Image caching
Sometimes it takes a lot of time to open an image.
Continuously decoding a PNG image or loading images from a slow external memory would be inefficient and detrimental to the user experience.

Therefore, LVGL caches a given number of images. Caching means some images will be left open, hence LVGL can quickly access them from `dsc->img_data` instead of needing to decode them again.

Of course, caching images is resource intensive as it uses more RAM to store the decoded image. LVGL tries to optimize the process as much as possible (see below), but you will still need to evaluate if this would be beneficial for your platform or not. Image caching may not be worth it if you have a deeply embedded target which decodes small images from a relatively fast storage medium.

### Cache size
The number of cache entries can be defined with `LV_IMG_CACHE_DEF_SIZE` in *lv_conf.h*. The default value is 1 so only the most recently used image will be left open.

The size of the cache can be changed at run-time with `lv_img_cache_set_size(entry_num)`.

### Value of images
When you use more images than cache entries, LVGL can't cache all the images. Instead, the library will close one of the cached images to free space.

To decide which image to close, LVGL uses a measurement it previously made of how long it took to open the image. Cache entries that hold slower-to-open images are considered more valuable and are kept in the cache as long as possible.

If you want or need to override LVGL's measurement, you can manually set the *time to open* value in the decoder open function in `dsc->time_to_open = time_ms` to give a higher or lower value. (Leave it unchanged to let LVGL control it.)

Every cache entry has a *"life"* value. Every time an image is opened through the cache, the *life* value of all entries is decreased to make them older.
When a cached image is used, its *life* value is increased by the *time to open* value to make it more alive.

If there is no more space in the cache, the entry with the lowest life value will be closed.

### Memory usage
Note that a cached image might continuously consume memory. For example, if three PNG images are cached, they will consume memory while they are open.

Therefore, it's the user's responsibility to be sure there is enough RAM to cache even the largest images at the same time.

### Clean the cache
Let's say you have loaded a PNG image into a `lv_img_dsc_t my_png` variable and use it in an `lv_img` object. If the image is already cached and you then change the underlying PNG file, you need to notify LVGL to cache the image again. Otherwise, there is no easy way of detecting that the underlying file changed and LVGL will still draw the old image from cache.

To do this, use `lv_img_cache_invalidate_src(&my_png)`. If `NULL` is passed as a parameter, the whole cache will be cleaned.


## API


### Image buffer

```eval_rst

.. doxygenfile:: lv_img_buf.h
  :project: lvgl

```