JPE File

The extension .JPE is an alternate, less common extension used for JPEG files - Joint Photographic Experts Group, most often stored with the .JPG extension. This is a binary format for storing raster graphics subjected to 24-bit compression. It is widely used for storing images on the WEB, with its MIME type being image/jpeg. It is also used by many digital cameras. It allows for capturing a wide color space.

Lossy image compression in .JPE files

The image compression in the .JPE file format is lossy. This means that saving the original image in this format results in permanent loss of some data and image quality. The higher the compression level, the greater the loss, but also the smaller the file size. The compression algorithm is complex and multi-stage:

1. Conversion of the image from RGB to luminance and chrominance.
2. Possible reduction of color channel pixels.
3. Division into blocks and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT).
4. Replacement of block averages by differences.
5. Quantization of data.
6. Ordering of DCT coefficients.
7. Compression of non-zero coefficients using the Huffman algorithm.

Similarly, subjecting a .JPE image to repeated editing and saving it each time with lossy compression results in a final degradation of its quality.

How to open files with the .JPE extension?

Basically, .JPE files should be supported by any graphic file browser or editing program that supports the JPEG format. However, there might be an issue with the files not being associated with an application. In such cases, changing the file’s extension to JPG may help. Usually, programs save files in the JPEG format with the .JPG or .JPEG extension.