Documentation for Apple's ithmb format?

Question

I am looking for documentation of the ithmb format used by Apple for photos stored on an Apple iPod. I would be happy with source code or a description. The only "documentation" I can find is pre-compiled executables that crack out the JPEGs.

Does anyone know how to do this?

Answer 1

There has been a discussion in the ilounge forum a while ago, http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?p=650968

and the ipodlinux wiki has some informations about the itunesDB (including the photo parts) http://www.ipodlinux.org/wiki/ITunesDB

Answer 2

According to the makers of FileJuicer (which can perform this conversion on a Mac),

The ithmb files are compressed using 16 bits per pixel in YUV format for television and they are therefore a bit smaller than the converted TIFF files.

It appears that the ithmb format varies from device to device (iPod Photo, iPhone, etc.), so you'll probably have to manipulate things based on which device the file came from.

FileJuicer ithmb Format Page:
http://echoone.com/filejuicer/formats/ithmb

Wikipedia YUV Page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YUV

FOURCC YUV/RGB File Information:
http://www.fourcc.org/fccyvrgb.php
http://www.fourcc.org/yuv.php