Tile Pyramid

Category: Technology

A tiered image structure of pre-computed tiles at several resolution levels, enabling smooth viewing and zooming of extremely large images in the browser.

A tile pyramid is the technical basis for making gigapixel and terapixel images viewable on the web. The huge overall image is broken down into several resolution levels, and each level is divided into small, square tiles.

When viewing, the viewer loads only the tiles that are visible for the current image section and chosen zoom level. This keeps the display smooth even though the complete image far exceeds screen and memory capacity. The structure resembles a pyramid: few tiles at low resolution at the top, many tiles at full resolution at the bottom.

Matching image motifs in the portal

Stadtpanorama Herbst90 %30 158 × 8 291 px · TIFKapstadt Panorama90 %imageBROKER/Michael Müller27 542 × 5 830 px · TIFStadtpanorama Hügellandschaft80 %62 555 × 18 173 px · PSBFlorenz Altstadt87 %Norbert Achtelik23 042 × 5 358 px · TIFStadtpanorama Flusstal80 %Claudius Müller29 339 × 8 523 px · TIFStadtpanorama Hügellandschaft80 %Claudius Müller38 010 × 6 585 px · TIFNächtliche Stadtlandschaft2 sizes · TIF & PSB67 %Robin-Oslo28 285 × 18 182 px · PSBFlusslandschaft mit Stadt2 sizes · TIF & PSB67 %Frank Johnston66 622 × 21 671 px · PSBBologna Altstadt Panorama2 sizes · TIF & PSB67 %Frank Johnston69 058 × 22 721 px · PSBStadtpanorama mit Alpenkulisse2 sizes · TIF & PSB67 %Frank Johnston136 240 × 51 730 px · PSB

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Explained by Daniel Richter · Expert in gigapixel photography · Gigapixel GmbH