[feature request] Supporting TIFF file preview and WebM

[ovalerio]

Dear Devteam,

The zarr preview option in fileglancer is fantastic. Unfortunately most of the raw data we got from our microscopes is still using older formats. In particular TIF (and/or TIFF stacks). Therefore, I would like you to consider adding previewing capabilities for those. Also, if possible a web compatible video format (e.g. WebM).

Thanks!

[krokicki]

Hi @ovalerio, thanks for the suggestion. We'd like to expand file format support beyond Zarr and N5, and TIFF makes a lot of sense as a next target.

A few questions to help us prioritize:

1. TIFF stacks: What kind of preview do you envision? Would a single slice be enough, or do you need to navigate through the full stack? And what file sizes are you typically dealing with?
2. Video: Do you already have WebM files you want to view, or would you need transcoding? Would you expect Fileglancer to provide any special video functionality, or is simply embedding the video (e.g. in place of the hex viewer) good enough?
3. External viewers: Are there any external tools for these formats that might make sense to integrate via data links?

Thanks!

[ovalerio]

Hi @krokicki,

Thanks for the questions!
These are my thoughts:

1. TIFF stacks:
   I would say a few slices will do. It can be a default=min(10,size) or user custom otherwise.
   Showing a single slice has the potential risk users will think something is wrong with the file.

2. Video:
   Trans-coding will be great. I only use WebM for previews.
   The data I share with colleagues is MP4 since is well supported by most players.

3. Viewers:
   I'm not very familiar with the viewers. I am using mostly editors (Napari,QuPath).
   For TIFF stacks inside Jupyter Notebooks, I've used and recommend stackview.
   Another popular format in the lab is NWB. For NWB there is a great online viewer at:
   https://nwbexplorer.v2.opensourcebrain.org