ImageConverter Plus is known for its support for a very large number of image formats. Most of the image formats are supported for viewing images, but there is a large number of formats to which images can be converted. One of the most popular output image formats is DDS – the DirectDraw Surface. It is used to store textures and cubic environment maps, both with and without mipmap levels. The format is able to store compressed and uncompressed images. DDS has several variations that differ from each other in the number of pixels and the presence or absence of the alpha channel or transparency. To understand what each variation means, we can show a few examples on what each variation means. When you would like to save your image in the DDS format, there will be several options meaning, for example, the following:
• A1 R5 G5 B5—16 bits per pixel: 5 bits each for the RGB channels, and one bit for the alpha channel.
• R8 G8 B8—24 bits per pixel: 8 bits each for the RGB channels; no alpha.
• R5 G6 B5—16 bits per pixel: 5 bits each for the R and B channels, 6 bits for the G channel; no alpha.
• X8 R8 G8 B8—32 bits per pixel: 8 bits each for the RGB channels; 8 bits unused; no alpha.
• X1 R5 G5 B5—16 bits per pixel: 5 bits each for the RGB channels; 1 bit unused; no alpha.