WinECJ 2.0     Fast JPEG decoding for Windows
=============================================

WinECJ is a fast JPEG viewer which runs under Windows 3.1.
Requires 256-colours or more display hardware, and Windows should
be running with 256 colours or more.

WinECJ consists of two major parts:
    WECJLIB.DLL - A dynamic link library which performs the actual
                  decoding. The current release is 2.0, and is
                  backward compatible with earlier releases (i.e.
                  it will work with LView 3.1, for example).
                  There are two versions of the DLL, the FREE version
                  that comes with this package can be freely
                  distributed for personal use. The FULL version,
                  which can be ordered from Express Compression Labs,
                  has added functionalities.
    WECJ.EXE is the Windows front-end.

Other support files include:
    WECJHLP.HLP - Online help for WECJ.EXE.
    ECJAPI.TXT  - Documentation on the API for WECJLIB.DLL. Keen
                  users and developers can easily develop their own
                  front-ends.
    ECJAPI.H    - C header file needed for developing front-ends.
    README.TXT  - This file.


New Features
------------
Apart from the various features such as multiple files drag/drop and
slide-show modes which are available in earlier versions, 
major new features of WinECJ 2.0 include

    Preview mode - Ultra fast decoding at 1/4th or 1/8th the
                   original picture size. In this mode the OpenFile
                   dialog box stays open, and one can very quickly
				   browse through a long list of JPEG images.

    Lossless cropping - Available in the FULL version only, allows
                        one to save a selected part of an image as
                        another JPEG file. The process is LOSSLESS,
                        i.e. the cropped/saved file contains an image
                        which is exactly the same as the retained
                        portion of the original image. This is achieved
                        by performing the cropping operation in the
                        coefficient domain.

The Full Version
----------------
In the FREE version of the DLL, images are rendered using ordered
dithering. The FULL version of the DLL supports Hi-Color and Tru-Color
display hardware. With such hardware dithering is not necessary and
the best possible picture quality can be achieved. Two-pass colour
quantisation and FS-style dithering are also supported in the full
version, the use of which results in better picture quality on
256-colour display devices. Finally the full version has the added
functionality of lossless cropping.

For ordering information on single and multiple user licenses for
the full version of the DLL, Email to

   ecl@netcom.com

or write to

   P.O. Box 7523, Fox Hills station,
   6083 Bristol Pkwy, Culver City,
   CA 90233, USA.


Disclaimer
----------
Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995 Express Compression Labs. All rights reserved.

This package which contains the free version of the DLL can be distributed
freely in its entirety for private use. This software is provided 'AS IS'.
ECL and the authors accept no responsibility for any damages arising from
its use.


Development Support
-------------------
The DLL is very easy to use. As an example the following
Visual Basic code loads and displays a JPEG file and saves it
as a BMP file.

      hDib% = ECJ_Decode("abc.jpg", 5, 0&, 0&)
      dum% = OpenClipboard(hWnd)
      dum% = SetClipboardData(8, hDib%)
      dum% = CloseClipboard()
      picture1.Picture = clipboard.GetData(8)
      SavePicture picture1.Picture, "abc.bmp"

For more information contact ECL for the C/VB development kit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Express Compression Laboratories
=====================================================================
P.O. Box 7523, Fox Hills station   |    PO Box 367, Caulfield East
6083 Bristol Pkwy, Culver City     |    Vic 3145, Australia.
CA 90233, USA.                     |
=====================================================================
Email: ecl@netcom.com