[ome-users] About OME-XML and image formats

[phillip ryan ganir]

     Good day!

     I'm studying image formats and planning to do a software that converts 
image formats to image formats. I just want to know if my newly
gained insights about OME-XML is true. In line with this are the following
questions:

     Is OME-XML another image file format like stk, tiff, jpeg, etc., or is it
not? In simpler terms, is a .ome file viewed as an image? If yes, is it
necessary that such image viewer be internal to OME? Or can it be an external
viewer (just like a jpeg viewer for jpeg, a tiff viewer for tiff, etc.)? If
not, does OME have an image file format just like the ones mentioned?

     Does every image format in an OME database, like the ones mentioned can be
converted to an OME-XML? If this is the case, I think I can use this
functionality for converting image formats to image formats (at least to those
OME supports) because each image format can be converted to a common
format, so one can just view to different image format as two files of the same
format (in this case, OME's format). Am I getting it right?

     Does OME now support image format to image format translation (perhaps in a
way other than what I just wrote)?

     About image formats in general, they are really in binary form, right? And
in this binary file, some have information, like metadata, embedded in them,
haven't they? Specifically, tiff and stk have this, right?

     I hope someone can find patience to answer my questions.:) I would really
appreciate future responses.

     Thank you very much!

Phillip