Is non standard usage of the PNG file format on topic?

Question

In the question Display partial PNG? the problem is not to access the PNG file format in the way usually used for computer graphics, but to access a truncated file in a way it was not designed for.

I'm assuming that questions about computer graphics file formats are on topic in general (please make that a separate meta question if there's any disagreement on that). This meta question is just about whether they are still on topic in this non standard usage which seems to relate less to computer graphics.

Should such questions be part of our scope?

Answer 1

I'm initially inclined to say "no", because it's in an area of overlap with SO and seems more likely to get a good answer over there. But I think that's quite specific to this question in particular. If it were about (say) abusing the PNG format to store a shadow map, I think that would be entirely suitable for us.

Answer 2

The fact that the question is about the PNG format, or a format image for that matter, seems completely anecdotic; it could have been pretty much any container (with various degrees of feasibility).

Moreover there is little overlap between the skills required to provide a good answer to that question, and the skills required to be an expert in computer graphics. There is a risk that this question will just sit there without a quality answer.

Lastly, I doubt an answer to that question would be useful to other visitors.

Because of this I don't think this question in particular falls within the scope, although we can take a wait-and-see attitude. That doesn't mean questions on details of file formats aren't suitable, as Dan's example shows.