MrSID (pronounced Mister Sid) is an acronym that stands for multiresolution seamless image database. It is a file format (filename extension *.sid) developed and patented by LizardTech for encoding of georeferenced raster graphics, such as orthophotos.
Common uses
Geographic information systems
MrSID was developed primarily for Geographic Information Systems (GIS). With this format, massive image data can be partitioned and displayed as satellite imagery in map software.
World-wide web
Since MrSID files contain multiple scale and quality levels they are claimed to be well suited for streaming over the World Wide Web. Only the requested zoom and area of the image is sent to the browser. Since the format is not well supported among most image programs, the resulting images cannot be usefully saved. Additionally, the browser plugin is slow when attempting to zoom or pan through a picture.
Software
LizardTech offers a software package called GeoExpress to read and write MrSID fi