PBM to HRZ Converter

Seamless PBM to HRZ conversion in your browser

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Server-Side Conversion

PBM to HRZ conversion happens in the cloud. Your computer or phone is not burdened by any processing work whatsoever.

Nothing to Install

No software downloads needed. The entire PBM to HRZ conversion happens in your browser tab, on any platform.

Reliable Output

Count on accurate results from your PBM to HRZ conversion. The converter faithfully reproduces your original content.

How to convert PBM to HRZ

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose hrz or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your hrz file right afterwards

About formats

PBM (Portable Bitmap) is the monochrome (black and white, 1-bit) member of the Netpbm family of image formats, created by Jef Poskanzer in 1988 as part of the Pbmplus toolkit for Unix systems. The format exists in two variants: ASCII (magic number P1), where each pixel is represented as a text character '0' (white) or '1' (black) separated by whitespace, and binary (magic number P4), where pixels are packed eight per byte for compact storage. Both variants begin with a plain-text header specifying the magic number, image width and height, and optional comments. PBM was designed as the simplest possible image format — a bridge format for converting between the many incompatible raster formats that proliferated across different Unix systems and applications during the 1980s. The Netpbm philosophy was to convert any source format to PBM/PGM/PPM as an intermediate step, then convert to the target format, using the portable formats as a universal exchange layer. One advantage is extreme simplicity — the ASCII variant can be literally typed by hand in a text editor, and both variants are trivial to parse and generate in any programming language without external libraries. The format's role as a universal image processing intermediate is another strength: hundreds of Netpbm command-line tools accept PBM input, enabling complex image manipulation pipelines through Unix pipes. PBM remains used in computer science education, OCR preprocessing, and any context where a dead-simple monochrome image representation is needed.
Developer: Jef Poskanzer
Initial release: 1988
HRZ is a simple raster image format associated with slow-scan television (SSTV), a method of transmitting still images over radio frequencies used by amateur radio operators since the late 1950s when Copthorne Macdonald pioneered the technology. HRZ files store images at a fixed resolution of 256x240 pixels in raw RGB format, with each pixel represented as three bytes (red, green, blue) at 8 bits per channel, producing uncompressed files of exactly 184,320 bytes. The format has no header, no metadata, and no compression — the file is simply a sequential dump of raw pixel data in row-major order. This extreme simplicity reflects the format's origins in the amateur radio community, where SSTV images are transmitted as audio tones encoding luminance and chrominance values over narrow-bandwidth HF (shortwave) radio channels. The fixed 256x240 resolution corresponds to common SSTV transmission modes, and HRZ files serve as the digital capture or storage medium for received SSTV transmissions. One advantage is the format's zero-overhead structure: with no parsing, decompression, or metadata processing required, HRZ files can be read by any program capable of reading raw pixel data with known dimensions — a single function call in virtually any programming language. The format's connection to amateur radio SSTV culture is another notable aspect: HRZ files document a unique form of image communication where operators transmit photographs over thousands of miles using nothing but radio waves and audio encoding, a practice that continues today alongside digital modes. HRZ files can be opened by ImageMagick, GIMP, and specialized SSTV software.
Developer: SSTV Community
Initial release: 1985

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert PBM to HRZ?

HRZ offers slow-scan television format — giving your image broader compatibility and a format suited for modern workflows.

What programs open HRZ files?

HRZ files are supported by SSTV software, ImageMagick, Netpbm tools. Pick whichever application suits your operating system and workflow.

Can I convert multiple PBM files to HRZ at once?

Absolutely — queue up multiple PBM files and the converter handles each one, producing HRZ outputs for all of them.

Is the PBM to HRZ conversion instant?

Processing is fast — most PBM files convert to HRZ within a few seconds, depending on image dimensions and server load.

Do I need to create an account to convert?

Registration is not required. You can convert PBM to HRZ immediately — just visit the page and start uploading.

Does the converter work on mobile devices?

The converter runs in your browser, so it works on mobile devices, tablets, and computers without any app installation.