Samsung introduced SRW alongside the NX10, its first NX-series mirrorless camera, which launched in January 2010 with a 15-megapixel APS-C sensor and the new Samsung NX lens mount. SRW files use a TIFF\/EXIF-based structure typical of raw formats from that era, storing the camera’s raw Bayer sensor output together with an embedded JPEG preview and Samsung-specific metadata fields.<\/p>
What sets SRW apart from the other manufacturer raw formats in this reference series is that Samsung is no longer an active camera manufacturer: the company wound down its NX camera line and exited the standalone camera business in the mid-2010s. That leaves SRW support permanently in the hands of third parties \u2014 Adobe’s Camera Raw team and the open-source libraw project \u2014 with no vendor left to fix decoding issues on new discoveries about older camera models.<\/p>
That orphaned status is exactly the scenario DNG was designed to protect against, and it is the clearest practical argument in this whole set of formats for proactive conversion: a DAM holding SRW assets from discontinued Samsung NX cameras gains real insurance by converting to DNG now, rather than waiting for a future software update that may never come.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SRW is Samsung’s proprietary raw format, introduced with the NX10 mirrorless camera in 2010, now an orphaned format since Samsung exited the camera business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","faq":[{"question":"Why is SRW flagged as a priority conversion candidate for a DAM?","answer":"Samsung discontinued its NX camera line and exited the standalone camera market, so there is no active vendor maintaining raw-decoder compatibility going forward, making SRW one of the more clearly at-risk formats for long-term DAM support."},{"question":"Is Samsung's own SRW conversion software still maintained?","answer":"No. Samsung's bundled utilities tied to the NX line are no longer maintained, so ongoing support depends entirely on third parties such as Adobe and the open-source libraw project."},{"question":"What should a DAM do with SRW masters now?","answer":"Convert them to DNG now, while Adobe and libraw still support current camera models, rather than waiting and relying on aging third-party decoders indefinitely."},{"question":"What does SRW's container structure look like?","answer":"A TIFF\/EXIF-based container storing unprocessed Bayer sensor data plus Samsung maker-note metadata and an embedded JPEG preview."},{"question":"When was SRW introduced?","answer":"2010, with the Samsung NX10 mirrorless camera."},{"question":"What tools currently decode SRW?","answer":"Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic via Adobe's camera raw plugin update for supported NX models, and RawTherapee or darktable through libraw."},{"question":"Is Samsung's legacy NX-series raw converter usable today?","answer":"Yes, but only as a legacy option; it's still usable but unsupported and unmaintained, so it shouldn't be relied on for ongoing DAM workflows."},{"question":"What's the practical batch-conversion path for a SRW-heavy legacy collection?","answer":"Adobe DNG Converter, useful for normalizing SRW libraries since Samsung's own software is discontinued."}],"checked_date":"2026-08-07","sources":[{"statement":"The Samsung NX10 launched in January 2010 and supports capturing in SRW raw format alongside JPEG","source_name":"Imaging Resource, Samsung NX10 review","url":"https:\/\/www.imaging-resource.com\/PRODS\/NX10\/NX10A.HTM","checked":"2026-08-07"},{"statement":"Samsung invented the SRW raw file format for its NX series cameras","source_name":"Just Solve the File Format Problem (Archive Team wiki), Samsung SRW","url":"http:\/\/fileformats.archiveteam.org\/wiki\/Samsung_SRW","checked":"2026-08-07"},{"statement":"SRW files can be converted to DNG format for broader long-term software compatibility","source_name":"iBoysoft, SRW file introduction","url":"https:\/\/iboysoft.com\/wiki\/srw-file.html","checked":"2026-08-07"}],"kicker":"","fact_checker":0,"reading_time":0,"revisions":[],"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","noindex":false,"ext":"srw","full_name":"Samsung RAW","vendor_name":"Samsung","introduced":"2010, with the Samsung NX10","container_notes":"SRW is a TIFF\/EXIF-based container storing unprocessed Bayer sensor data plus Samsung maker-note metadata and an embedded JPEG preview. Samsung's own raw-conversion software (bundled utilities tied to the NX line) is no longer maintained, so ongoing support depends entirely on third parties such as Adobe and the open-source libraw project. This makes SRW one of the more clearly at-risk formats in this list from a pure DAM-longevity standpoint.","open_with":[{"platform":"Windows \/ macOS","how":"Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic, via Adobe's camera raw plugin update for supported NX models"},{"platform":"Cross-platform, open source","how":"RawTherapee or darktable, both decoding SRW through libraw"},{"platform":"Batch conversion","how":"Adobe DNG Converter, useful for normalizing SRW libraries since Samsung's own software is discontinued"},{"platform":"Legacy Samsung native","how":"Samsung's bundled NX-series raw converter, still usable but unsupported and unmaintained"}],"archive_advice":"SRW should be treated as a priority conversion candidate for any DAM. Samsung discontinued its NX camera line and exited the standalone camera market, so there is no active vendor maintaining raw-decoder compatibility going forward; converting SRW masters to DNG now, while Adobe and libraw still support current camera models, avoids relying on aging third-party decoders indefinitely.","related":[2601,2610,2604,2597,2600,2590],"tool_link":""},"silo":[23],"class_list":["post-2609","format","type-format","status-publish","hentry","silo-formats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/format\/2609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/format"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/format"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/format\/2609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3667,"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/format\/2609\/revisions\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"silo","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picajet.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/silo?post=2609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}