ISO/IEC 21794-2

• Abstract:

  This document specifies a coded codestream format for storage of light field modalities as well as associated metadata descriptors that are light field modality specific. This document also provides information on the encoding tools.

• Status: Not Published
• ICS: 35.040.30 - Coding of graphical and photographical information
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 - Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 1 - JPEG Coding of digital representations of images
• Current Stage: 6000 - International Standard under publication
• Start Date: 19-Sep-2026
• Completion Date: 26-Sep-2026

• Revises: ISO/IEC 21794-2:2021/Amd 1:2021 - Information technology — Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG Pleno) — Part 2: Light field coding — Amendment 1: Profiles and levels for JPEG Pleno light field coding system
• Effective Date: 08-Feb-2025
• Revises: ISO/IEC 21794-2:2021 - Information technology — Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG Pleno) — Part 2: Light field coding
• Effective Date: 08-Feb-2025

Overview

ISO/IEC 21794-2: Information technology - Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG Pleno) - Part 2: Light field coding is an international standard developed by ISO and IEC. It defines a standardized format for the coded storage of light field image modalities and their associated metadata. Light field coding is essential for efficiently capturing, representing, and exchanging visual information that contains both spatial and angular data. This standard supports advanced imaging solutions by enabling effective light field compression, storage, and transmission in a way that ensures interoperability and high-fidelity image reproduction.

As part of the JPEG Pleno series, ISO/IEC 21794-2 specifies the codestream structure, encoding tools, and metadata that are modality-specific to light fields. The document is targeted at developers, vendors, and content creators working with plenoptic imaging technologies.

Key Topics

• Light Field Modalities: Covers methods to represent 3D scenes as light fields, capturing comprehensive radiance information.
• Codestream Format: Establishes rules for the organization and storage of light field data and associated metadata for interoperability and scalability.
• Coding Modes:
  • 4D Transform Mode: Optimized for coding narrow baseline light fields, does not require depth information.
  • 4D Prediction Mode: Efficient for all light field baselines, leverages depth (disparity) maps.
  • Slanted 4D Transform Mode: Effective across both narrow and wide baselines, without needing depth data.
• Superbox Structure: Utilizes a flexible container (the "superbox") to hold compressed data, parameters, and metadata, ensuring compatibility with JPEG Pleno file structures.
• Metadata and Descriptors: Supports storage of light field-specific metadata and descriptors for enhanced editing, browsing, and processing.
• Encoding and Decoding Requirements: Provides guidelines for implementing conforming encoders and decoders to ensure interoperability between systems.

Applications

ISO/IEC 21794-2 delivers practical value across a range of industries and applications where light field imaging unlocks new possibilities:

• Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR): Enables immersive experiences by supporting volumetric scene representations and multi-view rendering.
• Cinematic Post-Production: Facilitates advanced refocusing, depth editing, and scene reconstruction from captured light field data.
• Medical Imaging: Supports applications requiring high-dimensional image data, such as microscopy and diagnostic imaging with spatial depth cues.
• Industrial Inspection and Robotics: Allows precise 3D scene understanding for automated inspection, manufacturing, and navigation.
• Archiving and Cultural Heritage: Provides high-fidelity, detailed scene representation for digital preservation and interactive exploration.
• Research and Education: Serves as a basis for academic and industrial research in computational imaging, computer vision, and graphics.

By utilizing a standardized light field coding system, organizations and solution providers benefit from reliable interoperability, efficient storage, and consistent image quality across devices and platforms.

Related Standards

• ISO/IEC 21794-1: JPEG Pleno framework; defines the general architecture for plenoptic image coding, including file format structure and metadata framework.
• ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000 Part 1): Core image coding system referenced for codestream elements and compatibility.
• ISO/IEC 15444-2 (JPEG 2000 Part 2): Extensions supporting advanced image coding features.
• ITU-T T.800 & T.801: Telecommunications recommendations aligned with JPEG 2000 standards.
• ISO/IEC 11810918-3: Digital compression for continuous-tone still images.
• Other JPEG Pleno Standards: Covering additional plenoptic modalities such as point clouds and holography.

ISO/IEC 21794-2 empowers the next generation of imaging applications by providing a robust foundation for light field coding, ensuring efficient, interoperable, and scalable solutions in information technology and digital imaging.

FINAL DRAFT
International
Standard
ISO/IEC
FDIS
21794-2
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29
Information technology —
Secretariat: JISC
Plenoptic image coding system
Voting begins on:
(JPEG Pleno) —
2026-07-24
Part 2:
Voting terminates on:
2026-09-18
Light field coding
Technologies de l'information — Système de codage d'images
plénoptiques (JPEG Pleno) —
Partie 2: Codages des champs de lumière
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT,
WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION OF ANY
RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE
AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING DOCUMENTATION.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO­
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES, DRAFT
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE
TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL
TO BECOME STAN DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE
MADE IN NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
Reference number
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794­2:2026(en) © ISO/IEC 2026

FINAL DRAFT
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
International
Standard
ISO/IEC
FDIS
21794-2
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29
Information technology —
Secretariat: JISC
Plenoptic image coding system
Voting begins on:
(JPEG Pleno) —
Part 2:
Voting terminates on:
Light field coding
Technologies de l'information — Système de codage d'images
plénoptiques (JPEG Pleno) —
Partie 2: Codages des champs de lumière
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT,
WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION OF ANY
RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE
AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING DOCUMENTATION.
© ISO/IEC 2026
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO­
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES, DRAFT
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
TO BECOME STAN DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE
MADE IN NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
ISO copyright office
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Published in Switzerland Reference number
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794­2:2026(en) © ISO/IEC 2026

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ii
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms. 3
4.1 Symbols .3
4.2 Abbreviated terms .6
5 Conventions . 7
5.1 Naming conventions for numerical values .7
5.2 Operators .7
5.2.1 Arithmetic operators .7
5.2.2 Logical operators .8
5.2.3 Relational operators .8
5.2.4 Precedence order of operators .8
5.2.5 Mathematical functions .9
6 General . 9
6.1 Functional overview on the decoding process .9
6.2 Encoder requirements .10
6.3 Decoder requirements .11
7 Organization of the document .11
Annex A (normative) JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox .12
Annex B (normative) 4D transform mode .28
Annex C (normative) JPEG Pleno light field reference view decoding .72
Annex D (normative) JPEG Pleno light field normalized disparity view decoding .80
Annex E (normative) JPEG Pleno Light Field Intermediate View superbox .88
Annex F (normative) Slanted 4D transform mode .114
Annex G (Normative) Profiles and Levels for JPEG Pleno Light Field Coding System .136
Bibliography .139

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
iii
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity.
ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/
IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the
use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any
claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not
received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers
are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent
database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held
responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 21794-2:2021), which has been technically
revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO/IEC 21794-2:2021/Amd 1:2021.
The main changes are as follows:
— the specification of an additional coding mode, entitled Slanted 4D transform mode and its associated
profile.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 21794 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
iv
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Introduction
This document is part of a series of standards for a system known as JPEG Pleno. This document defines
the JPEG Pleno framework. It facilitates the capture, representation, exchange and visualization of plenoptic
imaging modalities. A plenoptic image modality can be a light field, point cloud or hologram, which are
sampled representations of the plenoptic function in the form of, respectively, a vector function that
represents the radiance of a discretized set of light rays, a collection of points with position and attribute
information, or a complex wavefront. The plenoptic function describes the radiance in time and in space
obtained by positioning a pinhole camera at every viewpoint in 3D spatial coordinates, every viewing angle
and every wavelength, resulting in a 7D function.
JPEG Pleno specifies tools for coding these modalities while providing advanced functionality at system level,
such as support for data and metadata manipulation, editing, random access and interaction, protection of
privacy and ownership rights.
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
v
FINAL DRAFT International Standard ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Information technology — Plenoptic image coding system
(JPEG Pleno) —
Part 2:
Light field coding
1 Scope
This document specifies a coded codestream format for storage of light field modalities as well as associated
metadata descriptors that are light field modality specific. This document also provides information on the
encoding tools.
This document specifies two coding modes: the 4D transform mode and the 4D prediction mode. The 4D
prediction mode is efficient for light fields of all baselines but depends on the availability of accurate depth
information. The 4D transform mode, although not relying on any sort of depth information, is only efficient
for coding narrow baseline light fields. The Slanted 4D transform mode, based on 4D transformations, is
efficient for light fields with both narrow and wide baselines and does not rely on the availability of depth
information.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ITU-T Rec. T.800 | ISO/IEC 15444 1, Information technology — JPEG 2000 image coding system — Part 1: Core
coding system
ITU-T Rec. T.801 | ISO/IEC 15444 2, Information technology — JPEG 2000 image coding system — Part 2:
Extensions
ISO/IEC 21794-1:2020, Information technology — Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG Pleno) — Part 1:
Framework
ITU-T Rec. T.84 | ISO/IEC 10918-3, Information technology — Digital compression and coding of continuous-
tone still images: Extensions
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 21794-1 and the following
apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
arithmetic coder
entropy coder that converts variable length strings to variable length codes (encoding) and vice versa
(decoding)
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
3.2
bit-plane
two-dimensional array of bits
3.3
4D bit-plane
four-dimensional array of bits
3.4
coefficient
numerical value that is the result of a transformation or linear regression
3.5
compression
reduction in the number of bits used to represent source image data
3.6
depth
distance of a point in 3D space to the camera plane
3.7
disparity view
image that for each pixel of the subaperture view contains the apparent pixel shift between two subaperture
views along either horizontal or vertical axis
3.8
hexadeca-tree
division of a 4D region into 16 (sixteen) 4D subregions
3.9
pixel
collection of sample values in the spatial image domain having all the same sample coordinates
EXAMPLE A pixel may consist of three samples describing its red, green and blue value.
3.10
plenoptic function
amount of radiance in time and in space by positioning a pinhole camera at every viewpoint in 3D spatial
coordinates, every viewing angle and every wavelength, resulting in a 7D representation
3.11
reference view
subaperture view that is used as one of the references to generate the intermediate views
3.12
subaperture view
subaperture image
image taken of the 3D scene by a pinhole camera positioned at a particular viewpoint and viewing angle
3.13
texture
pixel attributes
EXAMPLE Colour information, opacity, etc.
3.14
transform
transformation
mathematical mapping from one signal space to another

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
4.1 Symbols
Codestream_Body() coded image data in the codestream without Codestream_Header()
Codestream_Header() codestream header preceding the image data in the codestream
DEC

decoded normalized disparity value at view ts, for pixel location vu,
Dt,,sv,u  


Dt,,sv,u normalized disparity value at view ts, for pixel location vu,
  
pointer to contiguous codestream for normalized disparity view k
DPEC
k
scaling parameter to translate quantized normalized disparity maps to positive
D
shift
range
DCODEC disparity view codec type
f focal length
fixed-weight merging parameter for view p
FPW
p
Ht,s view hierarchy value for view ts,
 
HCCt,s horizontal camera centre coordinate for view ts,
 
Ht,s binary value defining the availability of a normalized disparity view ts,
 
D
Lagrangian encoding cost
J
Lagrangian encoding cost of spatial partitioning
J
J Lagrangian encoding cost of view partitioning
sparse filter regressor mask of texture component c for view p
KR
pc,
LightField() JPEG Pleno light field codestream
quantized least-squares merging weight of texture component c for view p ,
pc,
LSW
j jN12,, , LS
p
absolute value of the minimum value over all quantized normalized disparity
MIDV
views
view merging mode for intermediate view p
MMODE
p
sparse filter order for view p
MSP
p
number of least-squares merging coefficients for intermediate view p
NLS
p
regressor template size parameter for sparse filter for view p
NRT
p
NC number of components in an image
N number of intermediate views
I
number of reference normalized disparity views
N
NDV
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
D
number of normalized disparity reference views for intermediate view p
N
p
T
number of texture reference views for intermediate view p
N
p
number of reference views
N
REF
N number of prediction residual views
RES
N total available number of regressors for sparse filter
sp
Plev level a particular codestream complies to
Ppih profile a particular codestream complies to
2D image of dimensions VU× , defines the occlusion state-based segmentation at
Q
p Intermediate view p
Q normalized disparity quantization parameter
R rate or bitrate, expressed in bit per sample
RCODEC prediction residual view codec type
array of bytes containing for a single prediction residual view the RCODEC code-
RDATA
stream after header information has been stripped
array of bytes containing for a single prediction residual view the full DCODEC
RENCODING
codestream
RGB colour data for the red, green and blue colour component of a pixel
array of bytes containing for a single prediction residual view the header infor-
RHEADER
mation from the RCODEC codestream
pointer to contiguous codestream for prediction residual view j
RPEC
j
s
coordinate of the addressed subaperture image along the s-axis
S
size of the light field image along the s-axis (COLUMNS)
T
subscript of the column index of the reference view, ii12,, ,N in the light field
Tr p
s
ii
array in row-wise scanning order
subscript of the column index of the reference normalized disparity view,
Dr
s
D
jj
jj12,, ,N in the light field array in row-wise scanning order
p
binary variable, determines if sparse filter is used (true) or not (false)
SF
p
quantized sparse filter coefficients of texture component c for view p ,
p,0
SPW
j
jM12,, , SP
p
de-quantized sparse filter coefficients of texture component c for view p ,
pc,

SPW
j
jM12,, , SP
p
t coordinate of the addressed subaperture image along the t-axis
T size of the light field image along the t-axis (ROWS)

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
T
subscript of the row index of the reference view, ii12,, ,N in the light field
Tr p
t
ii
array in row-wise scanning order
subscript of the row index of the reference normalized disparity view,
Dr
t
D
jj
jj12,, ,N in the light field array in row-wise scanning order
p
D D
view coordinate subscripts for normalized disparity view k
ts,

k k
X X
view coordinate subscripts for reference view l
ts,

l l
I I
view coordinate subscripts for intermediate view p
ts,

p p
4D block dimensions at the 4D block partitioning stage
ts××vu×
kk kk
ts××vu× 4D block dimensions at the bit-plane hexadeca-tree decomposition stage
bb bb
TCODEC reference view codec type
array of bytes, containing for a single reference view, the TCODEC codestream,
TDATA
after header information has been stripped
TENCODING array of bytes, containing for a single reference view the full TCODEC codestream
array of bytes, containing for a single reference view the header information from
THEADER
the TCODEC codestream
pointer to contiguous codestream for reference view l
TPEC
l
u sample coordinate along the u-axis within the addressed subaperture image
U size of the subaperture image along the u-axis (WIDTH)
v sample coordinate along the v-axis within the addressed subaperture image
V size of the subaperture image along the v-axis (HEIGHT)
VCCt,s vertical camera centre coordinate for view ts,
 
view prediction parameters for intermediate view p
VPP
p
Xt,,sv,,uc texture value at view ts, for pixel location vu, for texture component c
  
decoded texture value at view ts, for pixel location vu, for texture compo-
 
DEC
Xt,,sv,,uc

nent c
ts,

result of warping the texture view ts, to view location ts,
 
Xt ,s

11 22
W 22
∆x
horizontal distance between a pair of camera centres
∆y
vertical distance between a pair of camera centres
colour data for the luminance, the blue chrominance and the red chrominance
YCbCr
component of a pixel
zt,,sv,u depth value at view ts, for pixel location vu,
  
T
distance based merging weight for reference view iN1,, at intermediate
p p
ˆ
θ
i
view p
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
distance based factor, used for defining the merging weight, at intermediate view
p
α
T
i
p for reference view iN1,,
p
binary matrix, defining the locations of the non-zero merging weights in merging
weight matrix Θ at intermediate view p . It is identical between all colour
Γ
pc,
p
components c
de-quantized least-squares merging weight of texture component c for view p ,
pc,
θ
j
jN12,, , LS
p
sp
sparse filter coefficients at intermediate view p for colour component c
θ
pc,
merging weight matrix for intermediate view p for colour component c
Θ
pc,
Υ locations of the non-zero elements of 
pc, vu,

 regressor template at pixel location vu,

vu,

Dr
set of reference normalized disparity views for intermediate view p
Ω
p
set of occluded pixels, which remain to be inpainted, during normalized disparity
occlD
Ω
p
view synthesis at intermediate view p
set of occluded pixels, which remain to be inpainted, during texture view synthe-
occlT
Ω
p sis at intermediate view p
Tr
set of reference views for intermediate view p
Ω
p
4.2 Abbreviated terms
2D two dimensional
3D three dimensional
4D four dimensional
DCT discrete cosine transform
EPI Epipolar Plane Image
floating point floating point notation
HTTP hypertext transfer protocol
IDCT inverse DCT
IPR intellectual property rights
IV Intermediate view; subaperture view that is generated from surrounding reference view(s)
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
JPL JPEG Pleno file format
LSB least significant bit
MSB most significant bit
R-D rate-distortion
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
RV reference view
URL uniform resource locator
XML eXtensible Markup Language
5 Conventions
5.1 Naming conventions for numerical values
Integer numbers are expressed as bit patterns, hexadecimal values or decimal numbers. Bit patterns and
hexadecimal values have both a numerical value and an associated particular length in bits.
Hexadecimal notation, indicated by prefixing the hexadecimal number by "0x", may be used instead of
binary notation to denote a bit pattern having a length that is an integer multiple of 4. For example, 0x41
represents an eight-bit pattern having only its second most significant bit and its least significant bit equal
to 1. Numerical values that are specified under a "Code" heading in tables that are referred to as "code tables"
are bit pattern values (specified as a string of digits equal to 0 or 1 in which the left-most bit is considered
the most-significant bit). Other numerical values not prefixed by "0x" are decimal values. When used in
expressions, a hexadecimal value is interpreted as having a value equal to the value of the corresponding bit
pattern evaluated as a binary representation of an unsigned integer (i.e. as the value of the number formed
by prefixing the bit pattern with a sign bit equal to 0 and interpreting the result as a two's complement
representation of an integer value). For example, the hexadecimal value 0xF is equivalent to the 4-bit pattern
'1111' and is interpreted in expressions as being equal to the decimal number 15.
5.2 Operators
NOTE Many of the operators used in document are similar to those used in the C programming language.
5.2.1 Arithmetic operators
+ addition
− subtraction (as a binary operator) or negation (as a unary prefix operator)
× multiplication
/ division without truncation or rounding
s
<< left shift; x< s
>> right shift; x>>s is defined as ⎿x/2 ⏌
++ increment with 1
-- decrement with 1
umod x umod a is the unique value y between 0 and a–1
for which y+Na = x with a suitable integer N
& bitwise AND operator; compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of
the second operand
If both bits are 1, the corresponding result bit is set to 1. Otherwise, the corresponding
result bit is set to 0.
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
^ bitwise XOR operator; compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of
the second operand
If both bits are equal, the corresponding result bit is set to 0. Otherwise, the correspond-
ing result bit is set to 1.
5.2.2 Logical operators
|| logical OR
&& logical AND
! logical NOT
5.2.3 Relational operators
> greater than
>= greater than or equal to
< less than
<= less than or equal to
== equal to
!= not equal to
5.2.4 Precedence order of operators
Operators are listed in descending order of precedence. If several operators appear in the same line,
they have equal precedence. When several operators of equal precedence appear at the same level in an
expression, evaluation proceeds according to the associativity of the operator either from right to left or
from left to right.
Operators Type of operation Associativity
() expression left to right
[] indexing of arrays left to right
++, -- increment, decrement left to right
!, – logical not, unary negation
×, / multiplication, division left to right
umod modulo (remainder) left to right
+, − addition and subtraction left to right
& bitwise AND left to right
^ bitwise XOR left to right
&& logical AND left to right
|| logical OR left to right
<<, >> left shift and right shift left to right

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
< , >, <=, >= relational left to right
5.2.5 Mathematical functions
|x| absolute value, is –x for x < 0, otherwise x
sign(x) sign of x, zero if x is zero, +1 if x is positive, -1 if x is negative
clamp(x,min,max) clamps x to the range [min,max]: returns min if x < min, max if x > max or oth-
erwise x
ceiling of x; returns the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to x
x
 
floor of x; returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to x
x
 
x rounding of x to the nearest integer, equivalent to sign xx 05. 

   
6 General
6.1 Functional overview on the decoding process
This document specifies the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox and the JPEG Pleno light field decoding
algorithm. The generic JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox syntax is specified in Annex A.
The specified light field decoding algorithm distinguishes three coding modes:
— 4D transform mode: this mode is specified in Annex B and is based on a 4D inverse discrete cosine
transform (IDCT), 4D block partitioning, and 4D bit-plane hexadeca-tree decoding.
— 4D prediction mode: this mode is based the prediction of intermediate views based on reference views
and normalized disparity maps. The signalling syntax and decoding of the reference views is addressed
in Annex C, the normalized disparity views in Annex D, and the prediction parameters and residual
views in Annex E. The intermediate views are reconstructed in a decoding process that involves view
warping, view merging and prediction error correction.
— Slanted 4D transform mode: this mode is specified in Annex F and is based on changing the EPI slants/
slopes in the 4D blocks by applying a geometric transformation before the conventional 4D-DCT stage
of the 4D Transform mode architecture, notably to make the slopes of the lines composing the EPIs as
aligned with one of the separable 4D-DCT dimensions as possible.
The overall architecture of the three coding modes (Figure 1) provides the flexibility to configure the
encoding and decoding system depending on the requirements of the addressed use case.

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Figure 1 — Generic JPEG Pleno light field decoder architecture.
6.2 Encoder requirements
An encoding process converts source light field data to coded light field data.
In order to conform with this document, an encoder shall conform with the codestream format syntax and
file format syntax specified in the annexes for the encoding process(es) embodied by the encoder.

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
6.3 Decoder requirements
A decoding process converts coded light field data to reconstructed light field data. Annexes A through F
describe and specify the decoding process.
A decoder is an embodiment of the decoding process. In order to conform to this document, a decoder
shall convert all, or specific parts of, any coded light field data that conform to the file format syntax and
codestream syntax specified in Annex A to F to a reconstructed light field.
7 Organization of the document
Annex A specifies the description of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox.
This document specifies three approaches to represent a compressed representation of light field data: the
4D Transform mode is specified in Annex B, the 4D Prediction mode is specified in Annex C, Annex D and
Annex E. Annex C details the signalling of the reference view data, Annex D the signalling of the normalized
disparity views and , Annex E the signalling of the prediction parameters to generate the intermediate views
and residual view data to compensate for prediction errors, and Annex F specifies the Slanted 4D Transform
mode. Annex G defines the profiles and levels of the three coding modes.

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Annex A
(normative)
JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox
A.1 General
This annex specifies the use of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox which is designed to contain compressed
light field data and associated metadata. The listed boxes shall comply with their definitions as specified in
ISO/IEC 21794-1.
This document may redefine the binary structure of some boxes defined as part of the ISO/IEC 15444-1 or
ISO/IEC 15444-2 file formats. For those boxes, the definition found in this document shall be used for all JPL
files.
A.2 Organization of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox
Figure A.1 shows the hierarchical organization of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox contained by a JPL
file. This illustration does not specify nor imply a specific order to these boxes. In many cases, the file will
contain several boxes of a particular box type. The meaning of each of those boxes is dependent on the
placement and order of that particular box within the file.
This superbox is composed out of the following core elements:
— a JPEG Pleno Light Field Header box containing parameterization information about the light field such
as size and colour parameters;
— a JPEG Pleno Light Field Reference View box containing the compressed reference views of the light field;
— a JPEG Pleno Light Field Disparity View box signalling disparity information for all or a subset of
subaperture views;
— a JPEG Pleno Light Field Intermediate View box containing prediction parameters and eventual
compressed residual signals for subaperture views not encoded as reference views.
Table A.1 lists all boxes defined as part of this document. Boxes defined as part of the ISO/IEC 15444-1
or ISO/IEC 15444-2 file formats are not listed. A box that is listed in Table A.1 as “Required” shall exist
within all conforming JPL files. For the placement of and restrictions on each box, see the relevant subclause
defining that box.
The IPR, XML, and UUID boxes defined in Annex A can be signalled, as well at the level of the JPEG Pleno
Light Field box, to carry light field specific metadata.

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Figure A.1 — Hierarchical organization of a JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
A.3 Defined boxes
A.3.1 Overview
The following boxes should be interpreted properly by all conforming readers. Each of these boxes conforms
to the standard box structure as defined in ISO/IEC 21794-1:2020, Annex A. The following clauses define the
value of the DBox field. It is assumed that the LBox, TBox and XLBox fields exist for each box in the file as
defined in ISO/IEC 21794-1:2020, Annex A.
Table A.1 — Defined boxes
Box name Type Superbox Required? Comments
JPEG Pleno Light Field box ‘jplf’ Yes Yes This box contains a series of boxes that
contain the encoded light field, its pa-
(0x6A70 6C66)
rameterization and associated metada-
ta. (Defined in ISO/IEC 21794-1:2020,
Annex A)
JPEG Pleno Profile and ‘jppl’ No Yes This box indicates to which profile
Level box and associated level the file format
(0x6A70 706C)
and codestream complies. (Defined in
Annex A.3.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field 'jplh' Yes Yes This box contains generic information
Header box about the file, such as the number of
(0x6A70 6C68)
components, bits per component and
colour space. (Defined in Annex A.3.3)
Light Field Header box ‘lhdr’ No Yes This box contains fixed length generic
information about the light field, such
(0x6C68 6472)
as light field dimensions, subaperture
image size, number of components,
codec and bits per component. (Defined
in Annex A.3.3.2)
Camera Parameter box ‘lfcp’ No No This box signals intrinsic and extrin-
sic camera parameters for calibration
(0x6C66 6370)
of the light field data. (Defined in
Annex A.3.3.3)
Contiguous Codestream 'jp2c' No No This box contains a JPEG Pleno code-
box stream (Defined in Annex A.3.4)
(0x6A70 3263)
JPEG Pleno Light Field Ref- ‘lfrv’ Yes No This box contains a series of boxes that
erence View superbox contain the encoded reference views
(0x6C66 7276)
and their associated parameters. (De-
fined in Annex C.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfrd’ No No This box signals which views are
Reference View Descrip- encoded as reference views and their
(0x6C66 7264)
tion box encoding configuration. (Defined in
Annex C.3.1)
Common Codestream ‘lfcc’ No No This box contains the redundant part of
Elements box the signalled codestreams. (Defined in
(0x6C66 6363)
Annex C.3.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfdv’ Yes No This box contains a series of boxes that
Normalized Disparity contain the encoded normalized dispar-
(0x6C66 6476)
View superbox ity views and their associated parame-
ters. (Defined in Annex D.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfdd’ No No This box signals for which views
Normalized Disparity normalized disparity information is sig-
(0x6C66 6464)
View Description box nalled and their encoding configuration.
(Defined in Annex D.3.1)
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
TTabablele A A.11 ((ccoonnttiinnueuedd))
Box name Type Superbox Required? Comments
JPEG Pleno Light Field In- ‘lfiv’ Yes No This box contains a series of boxes that
termediate View superbox contain both the prediction parame-
(0x6C66 6976)
ters for the intermediate views and the
encoded residual views. (Defined in
Annex E.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfpp’ No No This box signals prediction parameter
Prediction Parameter box information for the intermediate views.
(0x6C66 7070)
(Defined in Annex E.3.1)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfre’ No No This box signals the encoding configu-
Residual View Description ration for the residual views contain-
(0x6C66 7265)
box ing the prediction errors. (Defined in
Annex E.3.2)
A.3.2 JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box
Profile and levels are defined in Annex G. The type of the JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box shall be ‘jppl’
(0x6A70686F). The contents of the box shall have the organization as in Figure A.2, and its format shall be
as in Table A.2.
Key
Ppih profile of the codestream (as defined in Annex G)
Plev level of the codestream (as defined in Annex G)
Figure A.2 — Organization of the contents of a JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box
Table A.2 — Format of the contents of the JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box
Field name Size (bits) Value
Ppih 16 Variable, defined in Annex G
Plev 16 Variable, defined in Annex G
A.3.3 JPEG Pleno Light Field Header box
A.3.3.1 General
The JPEG Pleno Header box contains generic information about the file, such as the number of components,
bits per component and colour space. This box is a superbox. Within a JPL file, there shall be one and only
one JPEG Pleno Header box. The JPEG Pleno Header box shall be located anywhere after the File Type box and
before the Contiguous Codestream box. It also shall be at the same level as the JPEG Pleno Signature and File
Type boxes. It shall not be inside any other superbox within the file.
The type of the JPEG Pleno Header box shall be 'jplh' (0x6A706C68).
This box contains several boxes. Other boxes may be defined in other documents and may be ignored by
conforming readers. The boxes contained within the JPEG Pleno Header box that are defined within this
document are shown in Figure A.3:
— The Light Field Header box specifies information about the reference grid geometry, bit depth and the
number of components. This box shall be the first box in the JPEG Pleno Header box and is specified in
A.3.3.2.
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
— The Bits Per Component box specifies the bit depth of the components in the file in cases where the bit
depth is not constant across all components. Its structure shall be as specified in ISO/IEC 15444-1.
— The Colour Specification boxes specify the colour space of the decompressed image. Their structures
shall be as specified in ISO/IEC 15444-2. There shall be at least one Colour Specification box within the
JPEG Pleno Header box. The use of multiple Colour Specification boxes provides the ability for a decoder
to be given multiple optimization or compatibility options for colour processing. These boxes shall be
positioned anywhere in the JPEG Pleno Header box provided that they come after the Light Field Header
box. All Colour Specification boxes shall be contiguous within the JPEG Pleno Header box.
— The Channel Definition box defines the channels in the image. Its structure shall be as specified in
ISO/IEC 15444-1. This box shall be positioned anywhere in the JPEG Pleno Header box, provided that it
comes after the Light Field Header box.
Key
lhdr Light Field Header box
bppc Bits Per Component box
i
colr Colour Specification boxes
cdef Channel Definition box
Figure A.3 — Organization of the contents of a JPEG Pleno Header box
A.3.3.2 Light Field Header box
A.3.3.2.1 General
This box contains fixed length generic information about the light field, such as light field dimensions,
subaperture image size, number of components, codec and bits per component. The contents of the JPEG
Pleno Header box shall start with a Light Field Header box. Instances of this box in other places in the file
shall be ignored. The length of the Light Field Header box shall be 30 bytes, including the box length and
type fields. Much of the information within the Light Field Header box is redundant with information stored
in the codestream itself.
All references to "the codestream" in the descriptions of fields in this Light Field Header box apply to the
codestream found in the first Contiguous Codestream box in the file. Files that contain contradictory
information between the Light Field Header box and the first codestream are not conforming files. However,
readers may choose to attempt to read these files by using the values found within the codestream.
The type of the Light Field Header box shall be 'lhdr' (0x6C68 6472) and the contents of the box shall have
the format as in Figure A.4 and Table A.3:
— ROWS (T): The value of this parameter indicates the number of rows of the subaperture view array. This
field is stored as a 4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— COLUMNS (S): The value of this parameter indicates the number of columns of the subaperture view
array. This field is stored as a 4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— HEIGHT (V): The value of this parameter indicates the height of the sample grid. This field is stored as a
4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— WIDTH (U): The value of this parameter indicates the width of the sample grid. This field is stored as a
4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— NC: This parameter specifies the number of components in the codestream and is stored as a 2-byte
big-endian unsigned integer. The value of this field shall be equal to the value of the NC field in the LFC

© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
marker in the codestream (as defined in B.2.2.6.3). If no Channel Definition Box is available, the order of
the components for colour images is R-G-B-Aux or Y-U-V-Aux.
— BPC: This parameter specifies the bit depth of the components in the codestream, minus 1, and is stored
as a 1-byte field (Table A.4).
The low 7-bits of the value indicate the bit depth of the components. The MSB indicates whether the
components are signed or unsigned. If the MSB is 1, then the components contain signed values. If the
MSB is 0, then the components contain unsigned values. If the components vary in bit depth or sign, or
both, then the value of this field shall be 255 and the Light Field Header box shall also contain a Bits Per
Component box defining the bit depth of each component (as defined in A.3.3.2.2).
— C: This parameter specifies the compression algorithm used to compress the image data. It is encoded
as a 1-byte unsigned integer. If the value is 0, the 4D transform mode coding is activated. If the value is
1, the 4D prediction mode is activated. If the value is 2, the Slanted 4D transform mode is activated. All
other values are reserved for ISO/IEC use.
— UnkC: This field specifies if the actual colour space of the image data in the co
...

Date: 2025-08-08
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:2025(en)
ISO/IEC JTC1 JTC 1/SC 29/WG 01
Secretariat: JISC
Date: 2026-07-08
Information technology — — Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG
Pleno) — —
Part 2:
Light field coding
Technologies de l'information — Système de codage d'images plénoptiques (JPEG Pleno) — —
Partie 2: Titre manqueCodages des champs de lumière
FDIS stage
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2 2ED:2025(E:2026(en)
© ISO/IEC 20252026
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication
may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO
at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: + 41 22 749 01 11
EmailE-mail: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.orgwww.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
© ISO/IEC 2024 – All rights reserved
ii
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ii
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
Contents
Foreword . iv
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 3
4.1 Symbols . 3
4.2 Abbreviated terms . 6
5 Conventions . 7
5.1 Naming conventions for numerical values . 7
5.2 Operators . 7
6 General . 9
6.1 Functional overview on the decoding process . 9
6.2 Encoder requirements . 11
6.3 Decoder requirements . 12
7 Organization of the document . 12
Annex A (normative) JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox . 13
Annex B (normative) 4D transform mode . 36
Annex C (normative) JPEG Pleno light field reference view decoding . 98
Annex D (normative) JPEG Pleno light field normalized disparity view decoding . 110
Annex E (normative) JPEG Pleno Light Field Intermediate View superbox . 120
Annex F (normative) Slanted 4D transform mode. 158
Annex G (Normative) Profiles and Levels for JPEG Pleno Light Field Coding System . 189
Bibliography . 194

© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
iii
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2 2ED:2025(E:2026(en)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members
of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of
documentsdocument should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directiveswww.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
Field Code Changed
— This 2nd edition of ISO/IEC 21794-2 ("Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG Pleno) Part 2: Light field
coding") integrates AMD1 of ISO/IEC 21794-2 (“Profiles and levels for JPEG Pleno Light Field Coding”) and
includes the specification of an additional coding mode, entitled Slanted 4D transform mode and its
associated profile.
coding modes: the 4D transform mode and the 4D prediction mode. The 4D prediction mode is efficient for
light fields of all baselines but depends on the availability of accurate depth information. The 4D transform
mode, although not relying on any sort of depth information, is only efficient for coding narrow baseline light
fields. The Slanted 4D transform mode, based on 4D transformations, is efficient for light fields with both
narrow and wide baselines and does not rely on the availability of depth information.
Attention is drawnIEC draw attention to the possibility that some of the elementsimplementation of this
document may beinvolve the subjectuse of (a) patent rights.(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the
evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication
of this document, ISO and IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement
this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information,
which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch.
ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent
rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of
patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC list of patent declarations received (see
patents.iec.ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.htmlwww.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-
standardswww.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
© ISO/IEC 2024 – All rights reserved
iv
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
iv
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 21794-2:2021), which has been technically
revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO/IEC 21794-2:2021/Amd 1:2021.
The main changes are as follows:
— the specification of an additional coding mode, entitled Slanted 4D transform mode and its associated
profile.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 21794 series can be found on the ISO websiteand IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and www.iec.ch/national-
committeeswww.iso.org/members.html and www.iec.ch/national-committees.
© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
v
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2 2ED:2025(E:2026(en)
Introduction
This document is part of a series of standards for a system known as JPEG Pleno. This document defines the
JPEG Pleno framework. It facilitates the capture, representation, exchange and visualization of plenoptic
imaging modalities. A plenoptic image modality can be a light field, point cloud or hologram, which are
sampled representations of the plenoptic function in the form of, respectively, a vector function that
represents the radiance of a discretized set of light rays, a collection of points with position and attribute
information, or a complex wavefront. The plenoptic function describes the radiance in time and in space
obtained by positioning a pinhole camera at every viewpoint in 3D spatial coordinates, every viewing angle
and every wavelength, resulting in a 7D function.
JPEG Pleno specifies tools for coding these modalities while providing advanced functionality at system level,
such as support for data and metadata manipulation, editing, random access and interaction, protection of
privacy and ownership rights.
© ISO/IEC 2024 – All rights reserved
vi
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
vi
DRAFT International Standard ISO/IEC DIS 21794-2:2025(en)

Information technology — — Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG
Pleno)— ) —
Part 2:
Light field coding
1 Scope
This document specifies a coded codestream format for storage of light field modalities as well as associated
metadata descriptors that are light field modality specific. This document also provides information on the
encoding tools.
This document specifies two coding modes: the 4D transform mode and the 4D prediction mode. The 4D
prediction mode is efficient for light fields of all baselines but depends on the availability of accurate depth
information. The 4D transform mode, although not relying on any sort of depth information, is only efficient
for coding narrow baseline light fields. The Slanted 4D transform mode, based on 4D transformations, is
efficient for light fields with both narrow and wide baselines and does not rely on the availability of depth
information.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ITU-T Rec. T.800 | | ISO/IEC 15444- 1, Information technology — JPEG 2000 image coding system — Part 1:
Core coding system
ITU-T Rec. T.801 | | ISO/IEC 15444- 2, Information technology — JPEG 2000 image coding system — Part 2:
Extensions
ISO/IEC 21794--1:2020, Information technology — Plenoptic image coding system (JPEG Pleno) — Part 1:
Framework
ITU-T Rec. T.84 | ISO/IEC -11810918-3, Information technology –— Digital compression and coding of
continuous-tone still images: Extensions
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 21794-1 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminologicalterminology databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
— — ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obphttps://www.iso.org/obp
— — IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/https://www.electropedia.org/
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
3.1 3.1
arithmetic coder
entropy coder that converts variable length strings to variable length codes (encoding) and vice versa
(decoding)
3.2 3.2
bit-plane
two-dimensional array of bits
3.3 3.3
4D bit-plane
four-dimensional array of bits
3.4 3.4
coefficient
numerical value that is the result of a transformation or linear regression
3.5 3.5
compression
reduction in the number of bits used to represent source image data
3.6 3.6
depth
distance of a point in 3D space to the camera plane
3.7 3.7
disparity view
image that for each pixel of the subaperture view contains the apparent pixel shift between two subaperture
views along either horizontal or vertical axis
3.8 3.8
hexadeca-tree
division of a 4D region into 16 (sixteen) 4D subregions
3.9 3.9
pixel
collection of sample values in the spatial image domain having all the same sample coordinates
EXAMPLE A pixel may consist of three samples describing its red, green and blue value.
3.10 3.10
plenoptic function
amount of radiance in time and in space by positioning a pinhole camera at every viewpoint in 3D spatial
coordinates, every viewing angle and every wavelength, resulting in a 7D representation
3.11 3.11
reference view
subaperture view that is used as one of the references to generate the intermediate views
© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
3.12 3.12
subaperture view
subaperture image
image taken of the 3D scene by a pinhole camera positioned at a particular viewpoint and viewing angle
3.13 3.13
texture
pixel attributes
EXAMPLE Colour information, opacity, etc.
3.14 3.14
transform
transformation
mathematical mapping from one signal space to another
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
4.1 Symbols
Codestream_Body() coded image data in the codestream without Codestream_Header()
Codestream_Header() codestream header preceding the image data in the codestream
DEC
decoded normalized disparity value at view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠) for pixel location vu, 
D t ,s,v,u
𝐷𝐸𝐶
˜ (𝑣, 𝑢)
𝐷 (𝑡, 𝑠, 𝑣, 𝑢)
˜
Dt ,s,v,u 𝐷(𝑡, 𝑠, 𝑣, 𝑢) normalized disparity value at view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠) for pixel location vu,  (𝑣, 𝑢)
DPEC 𝐷𝑃𝐸𝐶
𝑘 pointer to contiguous codestream for normalized disparity view k 𝑘
k
scaling parameter to translate quantized normalized disparity maps to positive
D 𝐷
shift 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡
range
DCODEC disparity view codec type
f focal length
FPW 𝐹𝑃𝑊
𝑝 fixed-weight merging parameter for view p 𝑝
p
Ht ,s 𝐻(𝑡, 𝑠) view hierarchy value for view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠)
HCC t ,s 𝐻𝐶𝐶(𝑡, 𝑠) horizontal camera centre coordinate for view ts, (𝑡, 𝑠)
   
H t ,s 𝐻 (𝑡, 𝑠) binary value defining the availability of a normalized disparity view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠)
D 𝐷
J 𝐽
0 Lagrangian encoding cost
J 𝐽
Lagrangian encoding cost of spatial partitioning
1 1
J 𝐽
2 Lagrangian encoding cost of view partitioning
KR 𝐾𝑅
sparse filter regressor mask of texture component 𝑐 for view p 𝑝
pc, 𝑝,𝑐 c
LightField() JPEG Pleno light field codestream
quantized least-squares merging weight of texture component 𝑐 for view p ,
c
𝑝,𝑐
pc,
LSW
𝐿𝑆𝑊
j 𝑗
j1,2, ,NLS 𝑝, 𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑁𝐿𝑆
p 𝑝
© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
absolute value of the minimum value over all quantized normalized disparity
MIDV
views
MMODE 𝑀𝑀𝑂𝐷𝐸
view merging mode for intermediate view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
MSP 𝑀𝑆𝑃
sparse filter order for view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
NLS 𝑁𝐿𝑆
number of least-squares merging coefficients for intermediate view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
NRT 𝑁𝑅𝑇
regressor template size parameter for sparse filter for view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
NC number of components in an image
N 𝑁
𝐼 number of intermediate views
I
N 𝑁
number of reference normalized disparity views
NDV 𝑁𝐷𝑉
D 𝐷
N 𝑁 number of normalized disparity reference views for intermediate view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
T 𝑇
N 𝑁 number of texture reference views for intermediate view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
N 𝑁
number of reference views
REF 𝑅𝐸𝐹
N 𝑁
𝑅𝐸𝑆 number of prediction residual views
RES
N 𝑁
sp 𝑠𝑝 total available number of regressors for sparse filter
Plev level a particular codestream complies to
Ppih profile a particular codestream complies to
2D image of dimensions VU ,𝑉 × 𝑈, defines the occlusion state-based
Q 𝑄
p 𝑝
segmentation at Intermediate view p 𝑝
Q normalized disparity quantization parameter
R rate or bitrate, expressed in bit per sample
RCODEC prediction residual view codec type
array of bytes containing for a single prediction residual view the RCODEC
RDATA
codestream after header information has been stripped
array of bytes containing for a single prediction residual view the full DCODEC
RENCODING
codestream
RGB colour data for the red, green and blue colour component of a pixel
array of bytes containing for a single prediction residual view the header
RHEADER
information from the RCODEC codestream
RPEC 𝑅𝑃𝐸𝐶
pointer to contiguous codestream for prediction residual view j 𝑗
j 𝑗
𝑠
s coordinate of the addressed subaperture image along the s-axis
S 𝑆 size of the light field image along the s-axis (COLUMNS)
T 𝑇
subscript of the column index of the reference view, ii1,2, ,N 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑁 in
𝑝
Tr p
𝑇𝑟
s 𝑠
ii 𝑖𝑖
the light field array in row-wise scanning order
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© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
subscript of the column index of the reference normalized disparity view,
𝐷𝑟
Dr
𝑠
s
𝑗𝑗 D 𝐷
jj
jj1,2, ,N 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑁 in the light field array in row-wise scanning order
p 𝑝
SF 𝑆𝐹
p 𝑝 binary variable, determines if sparse filter is used (true) or not (false)
quantized sparse filter coefficients of texture component 𝑐 for view p ,
c
p ,0 𝑝,0
SPW 𝑆𝑃𝑊
j 𝑗
𝑝, 𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑀𝑆𝑃
j1,2, ,MSP
𝑝
p
de-quantized sparse filter coefficients of texture component c 𝑐 for view p ,
pc,
𝑝,𝑐
^
SPW 𝑆𝑃𝑊
j
𝑗 j1,2, ,MSP 𝑝, 𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑀𝑆𝑃
𝑝
p
t coordinate of the addressed subaperture image along the t-axis
T size of the light field image along the t-axis (ROWS)
T 𝑇
subscript of the row index of the reference view, 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑁 in the
ii1,2, ,N
p 𝑝
Tr 𝑇𝑟
t 𝑡
ii 𝑖𝑖
light field array in row-wise scanning order
subscript of the row index of the reference normalized disparity view,
𝐷𝑟
Dr
𝑡
t
𝑗𝑗 D 𝐷
jj
jj1,2, ,N 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑁 in the light field array in row-wise scanning order
p 𝑝
DD 𝐷 𝐷
ts, (𝑡 , 𝑠 )
  view coordinate subscripts for normalized disparity view k 𝑘
kk 𝑘 𝑘
XX 𝑋 𝑋
ts, (𝑡 , 𝑠 )
  view coordinate subscripts for reference view l 𝑙
ll 𝑙 𝑙
II 𝐼 𝐼
ts, (𝑡 , 𝑠 ) view coordinate subscripts for intermediate view p 𝑝
 
pp 𝑝 𝑝
t  s v u 𝑡 × 𝑠 ×
k k k k 𝑘 𝑘
4D block dimensions at the 4D block partitioning stage
𝑣 × 𝑢
𝑘 𝑘
t  s v u 𝑡 × 𝑠 ×
b b b b 𝑏 𝑏
4D block dimensions at the bit-plane hexadeca-tree decomposition stage
𝑣 × 𝑢
𝑏 𝑏
TCODEC reference view codec type
array of bytes, containing for a single reference view, the TCODEC codestream,
TDATA
after header information has been stripped
TENCODING array of bytes, containing for a single reference view the full TCODEC codestream
array of bytes, containing for a single reference view the header information from
THEADER
the TCODEC codestream
TPEC 𝑇𝑃𝐸𝐶 pointer to contiguous codestream for reference view 𝑙
𝑙 l
l
u sample coordinate along the u-axis within the addressed subaperture image
U size of the subaperture image along the u-axis (WIDTH)
v sample coordinate along the v-axis within the addressed subaperture image
V size of the subaperture image along the v-axis (HEIGHT)
VCCt ,s 𝑉𝐶𝐶(𝑡, 𝑠) vertical camera centre coordinate for view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠)
VPP 𝑉𝑃𝑃 view prediction parameters for intermediate view 𝑝
𝑝 p
p
texture value at view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠) for pixel location vu,  (𝑣, 𝑢) for texture
Xt ,s,v,u,c 𝑋(𝑡, 𝑠, 𝑣, 𝑢, 𝑐)
component c 𝑐
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ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
DEC
decoded texture value at view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠) for pixel location vu,  (𝑣, 𝑢) for texture
X t ,s,v,u,c
𝐷𝐸𝐶
component 𝑐
c
𝑋 (𝑡, 𝑠, 𝑣, 𝑢, 𝑐)
ts, 
X t ,s
 
W
result of warping the texture view ts,  (𝑡 , 𝑠 ) to view location ts,  (𝑡 , 𝑠 )
1 1 2 2
11 22
(𝑡 ,𝑠 )
1 1
𝑋 (𝑡 , 𝑠 )
2 2
𝑊
𝛥𝑥 horizontal distance between a pair of camera centres
x
𝛥𝑦
y vertical distance between a pair of camera centres
colour data for the luminance, the blue chrominance and the red chrominance
YCbCr
component of a pixel
zt ,s,v,u 𝑧(𝑡, 𝑠, 𝑣, 𝑢) depth value at view ts,  (𝑡, 𝑠) for pixel location vu,  (𝑣, 𝑢)
T 𝑇
distance based merging weight for reference view iN1, , 𝑖 = 1, … , 𝑁 at
𝑝
p
p 𝑝
ˆ ^
 𝜃
i 𝑖
intermediate view p 𝑝
distance based factor, used for defining the merging weight, at intermediate view
𝑝
p
 𝛼
T 𝑇
i 𝑖
p 𝑝 for reference view iN1, , 𝑖 = 1, … , 𝑁
p 𝑝
binary matrix, defining the locations of the non-zero merging weights in merging
 𝛤 weight matrix  𝛩 at intermediate view p .𝑝. It is identical between all colour
𝑝 𝑝,𝑐
p pc,
components 𝑐
c
de-quantized least-squares merging weight of texture component 𝑐 for view ,
c p
pc, 𝑝,𝑐
 𝜃
j 𝑗
j1,2, ,NLS 𝑝, 𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑁𝐿𝑆
𝑝
p
𝑠𝑝
sp
 𝜃 sparse filter coefficients at intermediate view p 𝑝 for colour component c 𝑐
pc, 𝑝,𝑐
 𝛩
𝑝,𝑐 merging weight matrix for intermediate view p 𝑝 for colour component c 𝑐
pc,
 𝛶 locations of the non-zero elements of  𝛹
pc, 𝑝,𝑐 vu,  (𝑣,𝑢)
 𝛹
regressor template at pixel location vu,  (𝑣, 𝑢)
vu,  (𝑣,𝑢)
Dr 𝐷𝑟
 𝛺 set of reference normalized disparity views for intermediate view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
set of occluded pixels, which remain to be inpainted, during normalized disparity
occlD 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑙𝐷
𝛺

𝑝
p
view synthesis at intermediate view 𝑝
p
set of occluded pixels, which remain to be inpainted, during texture view synthesis
occlT 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑙𝑇
𝛺

𝑝
p
at intermediate view p 𝑝
Tr 𝑇𝑟
 𝛺 set of reference views for intermediate view p 𝑝
p 𝑝
4.2 Abbreviated terms
2D two dimensional
3D three dimensional
4D four dimensional
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© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
DCT discrete cosine transform
EPI Epipolar Plane Image
floating point floating point notation
HTTP hypertext transfer protocol
IDCT inverse DCT
IPR intellectual property rights
IV Intermediate view; subaperture view that is generated from surrounding reference
view(s)
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
JPL JPEG Pleno file format
LSB least significant bit
MSB most significant bit
R-D rate-distortion
RV reference view
URL uniform resource locator
XML eXtensible Markup Language
5 Conventions
5.1 Naming conventions for numerical values
Integer numbers are expressed as bit patterns, hexadecimal values or decimal numbers. Bit patterns and
hexadecimal values have both a numerical value and an associated particular length in bits.
Hexadecimal notation, indicated by prefixing the hexadecimal number by "0x", may be used instead of binary
notation to denote a bit pattern having a length that is an integer multiple of 4. For example, 0x41 represents
an eight-bit pattern having only its second most significant bit and its least significant bit equal to 1. Numerical
values that are specified under a "Code" heading in tables that are referred to as "code tables" are bit pattern
values (specified as a string of digits equal to 0 or 1 in which the left-most bit is considered the most-significant
bit). Other numerical values not prefixed by "0x" are decimal values. When used in expressions, a hexadecimal
value is interpreted as having a value equal to the value of the corresponding bit pattern evaluated as a binary
representation of an unsigned integer (i.e. as the value of the number formed by prefixing the bit pattern with
a sign bit equal to 0 and interpreting the result as a two's complement representation of an integer value). For
example, the hexadecimal value 0xF is equivalent to the 4-bit pattern '1111' and is interpreted in expressions
as being equal to the decimal number 15.
5.2 Operators
NOTE Many of the operators used in document are similar to those used in the C programming language.
5.2.1 Arithmetic operators
+ addition
− subtraction (as a binary operator) or negation (as a unary prefix operator)
× multiplication
/ division without truncation or rounding
© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
s
<< left shift; x< s
>> right shift; x>>s is defined as ⎿x/2 ⏌
++ increment with 1
-- decrement with 1
umod x umod a is the unique value y between 0 and a–1
for which y+Na = x with a suitable integer N
& bitwise AND operator; compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of
the second operand
If both bits are 1, the corresponding result bit is set to 1. Otherwise, the corresponding
result bit is set to 0.
^ bitwise XOR operator; compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of
the second operand
If both bits are equal, the corresponding result bit is set to 0. Otherwise, the corresponding
result bit is set to 1.
5.2.2 Logical operators
|| logical OR
&& logical AND
! logical NOT
5.2.3 Relational operators
> greater than
>= greater than or equal to
< less than
<= less than or equal to
== equal to
!= not equal to
5.2.4 Precedence order of operators
Operators are listed in descending order of precedence. If several operators appear in the same line, they have
equal precedence. When several operators of equal precedence appear at the same level in an expression,
evaluation proceeds according to the associativity of the operator either from right to left or from left to right.
Operators Type of operation Associativity
() expression left to right
[] indexing of arrays left to right
++, -- increment, decrement left to right
!, – logical not, unary negation
© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
×, / multiplication, division left to right
umod modulo (remainder) left to right
+, − addition and subtraction left to right
& bitwise AND left to right
^ bitwise XOR left to right
&& logical AND left to right
|| logical OR left to right
<<, >> left shift and right shift left to right
< , >, <=, >= relational left to right
5.2.5 Mathematical functions
|x| absolute value, is –x for x < 0, otherwise x
sign(x) sign of x, zero if x is zero, +1 if x is positive, -1 if x is negative
clamp(x,min,max) clamps x to the range [min,max]: returns min if x < min, max if x > max or
otherwise x
x ⌈x⌉ ceiling of x; returns the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to x

x ⌊𝑥⌋ floor of x; returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to x


x ⌈x⌉ rounding of x to the nearest integer, equivalent to signx x 0.5
 
𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛(𝑥) ⌊|𝑥| + 0.5⌋
6 General
6.1 Functional overview on the decoding process
This document specifies the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox and the JPEG Pleno light field decoding algorithm.
The generic JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox syntax is specified in Annex A.Annex A.
The specified light field decoding algorithm distinguishes three coding modes:
— — 4D transform mode: this mode is specified in Annex BAnnex B and is based on a 4D inverse discrete
cosine transform (IDCT), 4D block partitioning, and 4D bit-plane hexadeca-tree decoding.
— — 4D prediction mode: this mode is based the prediction of intermediate views based on reference
views and normalized disparity maps. The signalling syntax and decoding of the reference views is
addressed in Annex C,Annex C, the normalized disparity views in Annex D,Annex D, and the prediction
parameters and residual views in Annex E.Annex E. The intermediate views are reconstructed in a
decoding process that involves view warping, view merging and prediction error correction.
— — Slanted 4D transform mode: this mode is specified in Annex FAnnex F and is based on changing the
EPI slants/slopes in the 4D blocks by applying a geometric transformation before the conventional 4D-
DCT stage of the 4D Transform mode architecture, notably to make the slopes of the lines composing the
EPIs as aligned with one of the separable 4D-DCT dimensions as possible.
The overall architecture of the three coding modes (Figure 1)(Figure 1 ) provides the flexibility to configure
the encoding and decoding system depending on the requirements of the addressed use case.
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ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)

Figure 1 — Generic JPEG Pleno light field decoder architecture.
6.2 Encoder requirements
An encoding process converts source light field data to coded light field data.
In order to conform with this document, an encoder shall conform with the codestream format syntax and file
format syntax specified in the annexes for the encoding process(es) embodied by the encoder.
© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
6.3 Decoder requirements
A decoding process converts coded light field data to reconstructed light field data. Annexes A through
FAnnex A through Annex F describe and specify the decoding process.
A decoder is an embodiment of the decoding process. In order to conform to this document, a decoder shall
convert all, or specific parts of, any coded light field data that conform to the file format syntax and codestream
syntax specified in Annex A to FAnnex A to Annex F to a reconstructed light field.
7 Organization of the document
Annex AAnnex A specifies the description of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox.
This document specifies three approaches to represent a compressed representation of light field data: the 4D
Transform mode is specified in Annex B,Annex B, the 4D Prediction mode is specified in Annex C,
Annex DAnnex C, Annex D and Annex E. Annex CAnnex E. Annex C details the signalling of the reference view
data, Annex DAnnex D the signalling of the normalized disparity views and , Annex EAnnex E the signalling of
the prediction parameters to generate the intermediate views and residual view data to compensate for
prediction errors, and Annex FAnnex F specifies the Slanted 4D Transform mode. Annex GAnnex G defines the
profiles and levels of the three coding modes.
© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
Annex A
(normative)
JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox
A.1 General
This annex specifies the use of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox which is designed to contain compressed
light field data and associated metadata. The listed boxes shall comply with their definitions as specified in
ISO/IEC 21794-1.
This document may redefine the binary structure of some boxes defined as part of the ISO/IEC 15444-1 or
ISO/IEC 15444-2 file formats. For those boxes, the definition found in this document shall be used for all JPL
files.
A.2 Organization of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox
Figure A.1Figure A.1 shows the hierarchical organization of the JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox contained by
a JPL file. This illustration does not specify nor imply a specific order to these boxes. In many cases, the file
will contain several boxes of a particular box type. The meaning of each of those boxes is dependent on the
placement and order of that particular box within the file.
This superbox is composed out of the following core elements:
— — a JPEG Pleno Light Field Header box containing parameterization information about the light field such
as size and colour parameters;
— — a JPEG Pleno Light Field Reference View box containing the compressed reference views of the light
field;
— — a JPEG Pleno Light Field Disparity View box signalling disparity information for all or a subset of
subaperture views;
— — a JPEG Pleno Light Field Intermediate View box containing prediction parameters and eventual
compressed residual signals for subaperture views not encoded as reference views.
Table A.1Table A.1 lists all boxes defined as part of this document. Boxes defined as part of the ISO/IEC 15444-
1 or ISO/IEC 15444-2 file formats are not listed. A box that is listed in Table A.1Table A.1 as “Required” shall
exist within all conforming JPL files. For the placement of and restrictions on each box, see the relevant
subclause defining that box.
The IPR, XML, and UUID boxes defined in Annex AAnnex A can be signalled, as well at the level of the JPEG
Pleno Light Field box, to carry light field specific metadata.
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ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)

Figure A.1 — Hierarchical organization of a JPEG Pleno Light Field superbox
© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
A.3 Defined boxes
A.3.1 Overview
The following boxes should be interpreted properly by all conforming readers. Each of these boxes conforms
to the standard box structure as defined in ISO/IEC 21794-1:2020, Annex A. The following clauses define the
value of the DBox field. It is assumed that the LBox, TBox and XLBox fields exist for each box in the file as
defined in ISO/IEC 21794-1:2020, Annex A.
Table A.1 — Defined boxes
Box name Type Superbox Required? Comments
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘jplf’ Yes Yes This box contains a series of boxes that
box contain the encoded light field, its
(0x6A70 6C66)
parameterization and associated
metadata. (Defined in ISO/IEC 21794-
1:2020, Annex A)
JPEG Pleno Profile and ‘jppl’ No Yes This box indicates to which profile and
Level box associated level the file format and
(0x6A70 706C)
codestream complies. (Defined in
Annex A.3.2)A.3.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field 'jplh' Yes Yes This box contains generic information
Header box about the file, such as the number of
(0x6A70 6C68)
components, bits per component and
colour space. (Defined in
Annex A.3.3)A.3.3)
Light Field Header box ‘lhdr’ No Yes This box contains fixed length generic
information about the light field, such
(0x6C68 6472)
as light field dimensions, subaperture
image size, number of components,
codec and bits per component.
(Defined in Annex A.3.3.2)A.3.3.2)
Camera Parameter box ‘lfcp’ No No This box signals intrinsic and extrinsic
camera parameters for calibration of
(0x6C66 6370)
the light field data. (Defined in
Annex A.3.3.3)A.3.3.3)
Contiguous Codestream 'jp2c' No No This box contains a JPEG Pleno
box codestream (Defined in
(0x6A70 3263)
Annex A.3.4)A.3.4)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfrv’ Yes No This box contains a series of boxes that
Reference View superbox contain the encoded reference views
(0x6C66 7276)
and their associated parameters.
(Defined in Annex C.2)C.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfrd’ No No This box signals which views are
Reference View encoded as reference views and their
(0x6C66 7264)
Description box encoding configuration. (Defined in
Annex C.3.1)C.3.1)
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© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
Box name Type Superbox Required? Comments
Common Codestream ‘lfcc’ No No This box contains the redundant part
Elements box of the signalled codestreams. (Defined
(0x6C66 6363)
in Annex C.3.2)C.3.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfdv’ Yes No This box contains a series of boxes that
Normalized Disparity contain the encoded normalized
(0x6C66 6476)
View superbox disparity views and their associated
parameters. (Defined in
Annex D.2)D.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfdd’ No No This box signals for which views
Normalized Disparity normalized disparity information is
(0x6C66 6464)
View Description box signalled and their encoding
configuration. (Defined in
Annex D.3.1)D.3.1)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfiv’ Yes No This box contains a series of boxes that
Intermediate View contain both the prediction parameters
(0x6C66 6976)
superbox for the intermediate views and the
encoded residual views. (Defined in
Annex E.2)E.2)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfpp’ No No This box signals prediction parameter
Prediction Parameter information for the intermediate views.
(0x6C66 7070)
box (Defined in Annex E.3.1)E.3.1)
JPEG Pleno Light Field ‘lfre’ No No This box signals the encoding
Residual View configuration for the residual views
(0x6C66 7265)
Description box containing the prediction errors.
(Defined in Annex E.3.2)E.3.2)
A.3.2 JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box
Profile and levels are defined in Annex G.Annex G. The type of the JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box shall be
‘jppl’ (0x6A70686F). The contents of the box shall have the organization as in Figure A.2,Figure A.2 , and its
format shall be as in Table A.2.Table A.2 .

Key
Ppih profile of the codestream (as defined in Annex G)Annex G)
Plev level of the codestream (as defined in Annex G)Annex G)
Figure A.2 — Organization of the contents of a JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box
Table A.2 — Format of the contents of the JPEG Pleno Profile and Level box
Field name Size (bits) Value
Ppih 16 Variable, defined in
Annex GAnnex G
© ISO/IEC 2025 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 21794-2:2026(en)
Field name Size (bits) Value
Plev 16 Variable, defined in
Annex GAnnex G
A.3.3 JPEG Pleno Light Field Header box
A.3.3.1 General
The JPEG Pleno Header box contains generic information about the file, such as the number of components,
bits per component and colour space. This box is a superbox. Within a JPL file, there shall be one and only one
JPEG Pleno Header box. The JPEG Pleno Header box shall be located anywhere after the File Type box and
before the Contiguous Codestream box. It also shall be at the same level as the JPEG Pleno Signature and File
Type boxes. It shall not be inside any other superbox within the file.
The type of the JPEG Pleno Header box shall be 'jplh' (0x6A706C68).
This box contains several boxes. Other boxes may be defined in other documents and may be ignored by
conforming readers. The boxes contained within the JPEG Pleno Header box that are defined within this
document are shown in Figure A.3:Figure A.3 :
— — The Light Field Header box specifies information about the reference grid geometry, bit depth and the
number of components. This box shall be the first box in the JPEG Pleno Header box and is specified in
A.3.3.2.A.3.3.2.
— — The Bits Per Component box specifies the bit depth of the components in the file in cases where the bit
depth is not constant across all components. Its structure shall be as specified in ISO/IEC 15444-1.
— — The Colour Specification boxes specify the colour space of the decompressed image. Their structures
shall be as specified in ISO/IEC 15444-2. There shall be at least one Colour Specification box within the
JPEG Pleno Header box. The use of multiple Colour Specification boxes provides the ability for a decoder
to be given multiple optimization or compatibility options for colour processing. These boxes shall be
positioned anywhere in the JPEG Pleno Header box provided that they come after the Light Field Header
box. All Colour Specification boxes shall be contiguous within the JPEG Pleno Header box.
— — The Channel Definition box defines the channels in the image. Its structure shall be as specified in
ISO/IEC 15444-1. This box shall be positioned anywhere in the JPEG Pleno Header box, provided that it
comes after the Light Field Header box.

Key
lhdr Light Field Header box
bppc Bits Per Component box
i
colr Colour Specification boxes
© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved
© ISO/IEC 2026 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC DISFDIS 21794-2:20252026(en)
cdef Channel Definition box
Figure A.3 — Organization of the contents of a JPEG Pleno Header box
A.3.3.2 Light Field Header box
A.3.3.2.1 General
This box contains fixed length generic information about the light field, such as light field dimensions,
subaperture image size, number of components, codec and bits per component. The contents of the JPEG Pleno
Header box shall start with a Light Field Header box. Instances of this box in other places in the file shall be
ignored. The length of the Light Field Header box shall be 30 bytes, including the box length and type fields.
Much of the information within the Light Field Header box is redundant with information stored in the
codestream itself.
All references to "the codestream" in the descriptions of fields in this Light Field Header box apply to the
codestream found in the first Contiguous Codestream box in the file. Files that contain contradictory
information between the Light Field Header box and the first codestream are not conforming files. However,
readers may choose to attempt to read these files by using the values found within the codestream.
The type of the Light Field Header box shall be 'lhdr' (0x6C68 6472) and the contents of the box shall have the
format as in Figure A.4 and Table A.3:Figure A.4 and Table A.3 :
— — ROWS (T): The value of this parameter indicates the number of rows of the subaperture view array.
This field is stored as a 4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— — COLUMNS (S): The value of this parameter indicates the number of columns of the subaperture view
array. This field is stored as a 4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— — HEIGHT (V): The value of this parameter indicates the height of the sample grid. This field is stored as
a 4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— — WIDTH (U): The value of this parameter indicates the width of the sample grid. This field is stored as
a 4-byte big-endian unsigned integer.
— — NC: This parameter specifies the number of components in the codestream and is stored as a 2-byte
big-endian unsigned integer. The value of this field shall be equal to the value of the NC field in the LFC
marker in the codestream (as defined in B.3.2.6.3).B.2.2.6.3). If no Channel Definition Box is available, the
order of the components for colour images is R-G-B-Aux or Y-U-V-Aux.
— — BPC: This parameter specifies the bit depth of the components in the codestream, minus 1, and is
stored as a 1-byte field (Table A.4).(Table A.4 ).
The low 7-bits of the value indicate the bit depth of the components. The MSB indicates whether the
compone
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