LizardTech Inc. announced the latest version of its MrSID Encode Software Development Kit (E-SDK). The MrSID 3.1.5 E-SDK is a C++ toolkit that enables key software ISVs and GIS developers to integrate MrSID technology and natively produce MrSID imagery files in third-party applications. Key enhancements for the MrSID 3.1.5 E-SDK include the ability to create MrSID image files that are lossless and to encode images of unlimited file size. In addition, LizardTech's industry first "image optimization" technology offers dramatic performance gains for high-resolution, high quality imagery.

LizardTech's MrSID 3.1.5 E-SDK has been designed to ensure easy implementation for integrators of MrSID technology. The encode SDK is incorporated into leading GIS/geospatial packages and has been endorsed for accuracy and quality by the US Government in NIMA and USGS CRADAs. MrSID is a wavelet-based imaging technology that can reduce high-resolution images to less than five percent of their original file size while maintaining original image quality. This enables real-time viewing of massive imagery in conjunction with popular GIS software packages and fast distribution of imagery to remote users.

In April 2002, LizardTech released the latest version of the MrSID decode SDK 3.1 (D-SDK) which is used in a variety of imaging programs and by all of the major GIS software vendors to natively view MrSID images. This release of the encode SDK now enables software vendors and developers to create more valuable MrSID imagery files. The stand-alone product based on lossless MrSID technology is scheduled for a Fall 2002 release.

Features of the MrSID encode SDK 3.1.5 include ability to produce both lossless and lossy MrSID images specific for each imaging environment and hardware platform. Additional features include an image threadsafe operation that allows simultaneous encode, optimize or decoding of multiple input images into multiple MrSID images, image security and enhanced metadata compatibility.