What is DCIM, DSC, IMG (files)

When we talk about technology and of computing, nothing has a name or nomenclature placed at random, and that is the case of the photographs we take with a digital camera, either our smartphone, or a dedicated one.

Have you ever noticed that when we copy those images to one computer, that their names usually start with DSC or IMG, and that they come from the directory -binder- DCIM? What are these nomenclatures for? What meaning do they have?

The DCIM nomenclature for a folder or directory corresponds to Digital Camera Images (Digital camera images).

That is, it is the folder in which, and as we take photographs, these are recorded in the form of files, either in Format JPEG, or others.

Within this folder, there may be other subfolders, in order not to exceed the maximum number of files allowed according to the different standard file formats. storage of files (such as FAT).

The DCIM directory is part of the DCF nomenclature (Design rule for Camera File system

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), a specification that defines how images are stored, and under what names, within digital camera storage.

However, the subfolders are not subject to any specific nomenclature, it is free for any of the manufacturers with the only condition of including three figures.

Thus, and for example, Panasonic names its subfolders as xxx_PANA, where xxx is a number such as 101, 102,... On the iPhone, on the other hand, we find the folders xxxAPPLE, where xxx is 100, 101, as in the Android phones we can find a folder 100ANDRO (which would be the equivalent of the folders that We have seen).

In the case of files, the most usual thing is to start the name with the prefix DSC, corresponding to Digital Camera System, followed by a four-digit number.

This is to maintain the order of realization of the snapshots when we transfer the files to another device. We can always sort them by date and time, but to prevent that in some specific cases of systems operating or platforms, said parameter is changed (or edited a posteriori), it facilitates its ordering by Name.

DCF is a standard de facto and very flexible, so that in some cases we can see the DSC header replaced by another. In most of these cases it is the IMG.

Obviously, this prefix is ​​relative to the word image, and is used by some manufacturers for their cameras, such as Canon.

Photos: Fotolia - Silver-John / Gstudio