imencode for non CV_8UC3 matrices

edit

Hi guys,

is there a generic way to use imencode for any image depth/channels? I understand the basic functionality is intended for CV_8UC3, i.e. color images. CV_8UC1 oftentimes works also, for some formats still 16 bit depth.

However, is there away for binary data persistence of arbitrary types e.g. CV_32SC6? Even completely uncompressed binary data output would be ok. The yaml file I/O is not suitable for MegaPixel images....

Thanks in advance