Re-encoding of Jpeg Image in binary column when saving

I know there are similar questions, but I have a question concerning the storage of images in a binary-column.

I have a small windows forms app that loads an image into a picturebox control from a sql compact db using Linq2SQL. The user can drag any image (jpg,bmp,gif) on a picturebox. On the DragDrop-Event the image is loaded into the picturebox. When I save the record following code is executed to store the image of the picturebox control:

MemoryStream imgStream = new MemoryStream();
pictureBox1.Image.Save(imgStream, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Jpeg);
myTable.MyImage = imgStream.ToArray();

I have checked the siz开发者_JS百科e of the byte array and it didn't change after saving the record. Is the image re-encoded every time the Save-Method is called? It would be maybe then better to check if the image has changed at all.

JPEG images are decoded as a function of their being displayed by .NET (or really just about anything). So, if you pull a JPEG out as a binary, put it in a PictureBox (which will convert it to a raster format to display), then take that now-uncompressed raster Image and recompress it, you MAY end up making changes to that image.

I would keep the original bytestream for the displayed Image somewhere behind the scenes, and write that back to the DB when the user saves the data. This will not only help preserve the integrity of the image, it will boost performance by reducing the need to recompress the image every time.

If this code is called when you call Save then yes, the PictureBox will "export" itself as a JPEG every time. Are you noticing a performance issue because of this? If you want to avoid it, set a flag on application load and when the drag/drop event occurs raise the flag signaling that the Save method should update the image data.