ANNOUNCEMENT

Version 3.5.1 of the OFFIS DCMTK (DICOM ToolKit) software is now available
for public release.  This release includes the following main changes 
over the previous version (Version 3.5.0):

- The DICOM data dictionary has been re-worked based on the 2001 edition of 
  the DICOM standard and latest supplements and correction proposals, as 
  usual.

- A new module dcmjpeg has been added that enables JPEG compression and 
  decompression of DICOM images. The supported lossy JPEG processes are: 
  baseline, extended sequential, spectral selection and progressive. The 
  lossless processes with selection value 1 and arbitrary selection values 
  are also supported (with bits/pixel up to 16). The JPEG compression / 
  decompression code is based on an adapted version of the Independent JPEG 
  Group's JPEG library which is shipped with DCMTK.

- The new utility dcmmkdir extends the existing tool dcmgpdir with the 
  ability to create DICOMDIRs conforming to the Basic Cardiac X-Ray 
  Angiography and 1024 X-Ray Angiography application profiles, including 
  the required icons.

- The new utility dcmj2pnm extends the existing tool dcm2pnm with the 
  ability to convert JPEG-compressed images and to export JPEG. Both tools 
  now support BMP and TIFF export (requires libtiff).  

- The digital signature module dcmsign has been adapted to the final text 
  of supplement 41.

- The storescp tool has received a number of additional options which allow 
  to sort images and to execute user defined commands upon reception.

- The old, Xlib-based database monitor tool "ctndisp" has been phased out
  and removed from the toolkit.

- Under the hood: Most of the various condition enumerations and defines in 
  the various DCMTK modules have been replaced by a unified condition 
  class. Doc++ documentation for various classes has been added.

- Many bug fixes and minor improvements as usual - See the dcmtk/CHANGES 
  file for more details.


Many people have contributed to this new release of DCMTK, appearing here 
in alphabetical order. Thank you very much for your support!

  Andreas Barth <andreas.barth@medical.bruker.de>
  Alexander Blum <Alexander.Blum@kewbee.de>
  Anders Gustafsson <agustafsson@mds.nordion.com>
  Ben <ruthenium@altavista.net>
  Gilles Mevel <Gilles.Mevel@etiam.com>
  Bernd Kuemmerlen <bkuemmer@mevis.de>
  Markus Mertens <markus.mertens@uni-muenster.de>
  Merlijn van Minderhout <Merlijn.van.Minderhout@philips.com>
  Thomas Moeller <Thomas.Moeller@sms.siemens.com>

OFFIS staff who have worked on this release are:
  Marco Eichelberg <eichelberg@offis.de>
  Joerg Riesmeier <riesmeier@offis.de>
  Thomas Wilkens
  
The DCMTK software can be downloaded via:
  http://dicom.offis.de/dcmtk/


Kuratorium OFFIS e.V., Oldenburg, Germany, 2001-12-21