Is BitmapSource the only type can be used in Image Source?

Question

We can use Bitmapsource object as the content of a Image control, However if I only have Bitmap object, can I use it directly, if I convert Bitmap to Bitmapsouce using the following method:

        Bitmap bitmap = imageObjToBeConvert;
        IntPtr HBitmap = bitmap.GetHbitmap();
        result = Imaging.CreateBitmapSourceFromHBitmap
            (HBitmap,
            IntPtr.Zero,
            Int32Rect.Empty,
            BitmapSizeOptions.FromEmptyOptions());
        DeleteObject(HBitmap);
        bitmap.Dispose();

It take some time. Is there any way to use Bitmap directly?

And I found BitmapSource seems can't be released directly, Is there a sample method to release the memory immediately, after the Bitmapsouce is not used again.

Answer 1

• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.BitmapFrame
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.BitmapImage
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.CachedBitmap
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.ColorConvertedBitmap
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.CroppedBitmap
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.FormatConvertedBitmap
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.RenderTargetBitmap
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.TransformedBitmap
• System.Windows.Media.Imaging..::.WriteableBitmap

All of these classes inherit from BitMapSource, so any of them could be used in that context.

Answer 2

No, you cannot use Bitmap directly. This is because System.Drawing.Bitmap is a GDI+ bitmap, while classes like BitmapImage in System.Windows.Media.Imaging are D3D/DirectX.

Regarding memory usage, you can't release it directly, but there is usually some sort of caching that goes in the background. There are ways that you can load a BitmapImage so that it ignores the cache.