Compression - Uncompress file produced by QMStoBIN

Author

Uncompress file produced by QMStoBIN

Peter Kabal

2005-02-05, 3:55 pm

I have some old image files which indicate in their header (512 bytes) that
they were produced by a program named QMStoBIN. The files are compressed 1
bit/pixel images. The first two long words in the header seem to give the
image dimensions (in pixels), the next long word contains a 1 (1
bit/pixel?). The rest of the header is text indicating the user, date and
the string "Output from QMStoBIN".

The files were produced in 1989 on a VAX computer.

Anybody have a clue as to how to "uncompress" the data in these files?

Peter Kabal
McGill University

Phil Carmody

2005-02-05, 3:55 pm

"Peter Kabal" <kabal@ECE.McGill.CA> writes:
> I have some old image files which indicate in their header (512 bytes) that
> they were produced by a program named QMStoBIN. The files are compressed 1
> bit/pixel images. The first two long words in the header seem to give the
> image dimensions (in pixels), the next long word contains a 1 (1
> bit/pixel?). The rest of the header is text indicating the user, date and
> the string "Output from QMStoBIN".
>
> The files were produced in 1989 on a VAX computer.
>
> Anybody have a clue as to how to "uncompress" the data in these files?

Do you know if they are actaully compressed? (i.e. what level of redundancy
do the files have?)

You might want to poke some of the old farts in alt.folklore.computers,
as they seem to be full of tales of software and systems of yore.
Whether they're useful for anything apart from semi-senile story-telling,
I cannot tell; but if you don't ask you won't find out.

Phil
--
If a religion is defined to be a system of ideas that contains unprovable
statements, then Godel taught us that mathematics is not only a religion, it
is the only religion that can prove itself to be one. -- John Barrow

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