diff --git a/examples/osgvolume/osgvolume.cpp b/examples/osgvolume/osgvolume.cpp
index 362f3032a..1c899687b 100644
--- a/examples/osgvolume/osgvolume.cpp
+++ b/examples/osgvolume/osgvolume.cpp
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ struct ScaleOperator
     inline void rgba(float& r,float& g,float& b,float& a) const { r*= _scale; g*=_scale; b*=_scale; a*=_scale; }
 };
 
-struct RecordRowOperator
+struct RecordRowOperator : public osg::CastAndScaleToFloatOperation
 {
     RecordRowOperator(unsigned int num):_colours(num),_pos(0) {}
 
diff --git a/include/osg/ImageUtils b/include/osg/ImageUtils
index ba3ab70c6..5c7d1bd74 100644
--- a/include/osg/ImageUtils
+++ b/include/osg/ImageUtils
@@ -20,6 +20,68 @@
 
 namespace osg {
 
+template <typename T, class O>
+void _readRow(unsigned int num, GLenum pixelFormat, const T* data, O& operation)
+{
+    switch(pixelFormat)
+    {
+        case(GL_INTENSITY):         { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { T v=*data++; operation.rgba( operation.cast(v),operation.cast(v),operation.cast(v),operation.cast(v)); } }  break;
+        case(GL_LUMINANCE):         { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { operation.luminance(operation.cast(*data++)); } }  break;
+        case(GL_ALPHA):             { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { operation.alpha(operation.cast(*data++)); } }  break;
+        case(GL_LUMINANCE_ALPHA):   { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { T l=*data++; T a = *data++; operation.luminance_alpha(operation.cast(l),operation.cast(a)); } }  break;
+        case(GL_RGB):               { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { T r=*data++; T g=*data++; T b=*data++; operation.rgb(operation.cast(r),operation.cast(g),operation.cast(b)); } } break;
+        case(GL_RGBA):              { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { T r=*data++; T g=*data++; T b=*data++; T a=*data++; operation.rgba(operation.cast(r),operation.cast(g),operation.cast(b),operation.cast(a)); } } break;
+        case(GL_BGR):               { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { T b=*data++; T g=*data++; T r=*data++; operation.rgb(operation.cast(r),operation.cast(g),operation.cast(b)); } }  break;
+        case(GL_BGRA):              { for(unsigned int i=0;i<num;++i) { T b=*data++; T g=*data++; T r=*data++; T a=*data++; operation.rgba(operation.cast(r),operation.cast(g),operation.cast(b),operation.cast(a)); } }  break;
+    }
+}
+
+
+template <class O>
+void readRow(unsigned int num, GLenum pixelFormat, GLenum dataType, const unsigned char* data, O& operation)
+{
+    switch(dataType)
+    {
+        case(GL_BYTE):              _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const char*)data,            operation); break;
+        case(GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE):     _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const unsigned char*)data,   operation); break;
+        case(GL_SHORT):             _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const short*) data,          operation); break;
+        case(GL_UNSIGNED_SHORT):    _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const unsigned short*)data,  operation); break;
+        case(GL_INT):               _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const int*) data,            operation); break;
+        case(GL_UNSIGNED_INT):      _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const unsigned int*) data,   operation); break;
+        case(GL_FLOAT):             _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const float*) data,          operation); break;
+        case(GL_DOUBLE):            _readRow(num, pixelFormat, (const double*) data,         operation); break;
+    }
+}
+
+
+template <class O>
+void readImage(const osg::Image* image, O& operation)
+{
+    if (!image) return;
+
+    for(int r=0;r<image->r();++r)
+    {
+        for(int t=0;t<image->t();++t)
+        {
+            readRow(image->s(), image->getPixelFormat(), image->getDataType(), image->data(0,t,r), operation);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/** Convinience method for making it easy to cast all pixel channels types to a unit float RGBA form.*/
+struct CastAndScaleToFloatOperation
+{
+    float cast(char v) { return static_cast<float>(v)*(1.0f/128.0f); }
+    float cast(unsigned char v) { return static_cast<float>(v)*(1.0f/255.0f); }
+    float cast(short v) { return static_cast<float>(v)*(1.0f/32768.0f); }
+    float cast(unsigned short v) { return static_cast<float>(v)*(1.0f/65535.0f); }
+    float cast(int v) { return static_cast<float>(v)*(1.0f/2147483648.0f); }
+    float cast(unsigned int v) { return static_cast<float>(v)*(1.0f/4294967295.0f); }
+    float cast(float v) { return v; }
+    float cast(double v) { return static_cast<double>(v); }
+};
+
+#if 0
 template <typename T, class O>
 void _readRow(unsigned int num, GLenum pixelFormat, const T* data,float scale, O& operation)
 {
@@ -63,6 +125,9 @@ void readImage(const osg::Image* image, O& operation)
         }
     }
 }
+#endif
+
+
 
 // example ModifyOperator
 // struct ModifyOperator
diff --git a/include/osg/io_utils b/include/osg/io_utils
index ee42b30b5..6f6d9aaf0 100644
--- a/include/osg/io_utils
+++ b/include/osg/io_utils
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 #include <osg/Vec2s>
 #include <osg/Vec3s>
 #include <osg/Vec4s>
+#include <osg/Vec2i>
+#include <osg/Vec3i>
+#include <osg/Vec4i>
 #include <osg/Matrixf>
 #include <osg/Matrixd>
 #include <osg/Plane>
@@ -240,6 +243,59 @@ inline std::istream& operator >> (std::istream& input, Vec4s& vec)
 }
 
 
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// Vec2i steaming operators.
+inline std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& output, const Vec2i& vec)
+{
+    output << vec._v[0] << " "
+           << vec._v[1];
+    return output; // to enable cascading
+}
+
+inline std::istream& operator >> (std::istream& input, Vec2i& vec)
+{
+    input >> vec._v[0] >> std::ws >> vec._v[1];
+    return input;
+}
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// Vec3i steaming operators.
+inline std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& output, const Vec3i& vec)
+{
+    output << vec._v[0] << " "
+           << vec._v[1] << " "
+           << vec._v[2];
+    return output; // to enable cascading
+}
+
+inline std::istream& operator >> (std::istream& input, Vec3i& vec)
+{
+    input >> vec._v[0] >> std::ws >> vec._v[1] >> std::ws >> vec._v[2];
+    return input;
+}
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// Vec4i steaming operators.
+inline std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& output, const Vec4i& vec)
+{
+    output << vec._v[0] << " "
+           << vec._v[1] << " "
+           << vec._v[2] << " "
+           << vec._v[3];
+    return output; // to enable cascading
+}
+
+inline std::istream& operator >> (std::istream& input, Vec4i& vec)
+{
+    input >> vec._v[0] >> std::ws
+          >> vec._v[1] >> std::ws
+          >> vec._v[2] >> std::ws
+          >> vec._v[3];
+    return input;
+}
+
+
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Matrixf steaming operators.
 inline std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& os, const Matrixf& m )
diff --git a/src/osg/ImageUtils.cpp b/src/osg/ImageUtils.cpp
index 5feb0bb85..0f59b7322 100644
--- a/src/osg/ImageUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/osg/ImageUtils.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 namespace osg
 {
 
-struct FindRangeOperator
+struct FindRangeOperator : public CastAndScaleToFloatOperation
 {
     FindRangeOperator():
         _rmin(FLT_MAX),
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ void _copyRowAndScale(const unsigned char* src, GLenum srcDataType, unsigned cha
     }
 }
 
-struct RecordRowOperator
+struct RecordRowOperator : public CastAndScaleToFloatOperation
 {
     RecordRowOperator(unsigned int num):_colours(num),_pos(0) {}
 
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/dicom/ReaderWriterDICOM.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/dicom/ReaderWriterDICOM.cpp
index 00f1872d7..1fd23b054 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/dicom/ReaderWriterDICOM.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/dicom/ReaderWriterDICOM.cpp
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ class ReaderWriterDICOM : public osgDB::ReaderWriter
             tile->setVolumeTechnique(new osgVolume::RayTracedTechnique());
 
             osg::ref_ptr<osgVolume::ImageLayer> layer= new osgVolume::ImageLayer(result.getImage());
-            layer->rescaleToZeroToOneRange();
+            //layer->rescaleToZeroToOneRange();
 
             osgVolume::SwitchProperty* sp = new osgVolume::SwitchProperty;
             sp->setActiveProperty(0);
diff --git a/src/osgVolume/Layer.cpp b/src/osgVolume/Layer.cpp
index 90e4fb0ee..d67b8542f 100644
--- a/src/osgVolume/Layer.cpp
+++ b/src/osgVolume/Layer.cpp
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ osg::Image* osgVolume::createNormalMapTexture(osg::Image* image_3d)
 //
 // applyTransferFunction
 //
-struct ApplyTransferFunctionOperator
+struct ApplyTransferFunctionOperator : public osg::CastAndScaleToFloatOperation
 {
     ApplyTransferFunctionOperator(osg::TransferFunction1D* tf, unsigned char* data):
         _tf(tf),