CLIENT-SIDE IMAGE RENDERING IN A CLIENT-SERVER IMAGE VIEWING ARCHITECTURE

Systems and methods within a remote access environment that enable a client device that is remotely accessing, e.g., medical images, to seamlessly switch from client-side rendering of image data to server-side rendering of the image data and vice-versa. Distributed image processing may be provided whereby image data may be streamed to, and processed by the client device (client-side rendering), or may be processed remotely at the server and downloaded to the client device for display (server-side rendering). The switching between the two modes may be based on predetermined criteria, such as network bandwidth, processing power the client device, type of imagery to be displayed. The environment also provides for collaboration among plural client devices where at least one of the plural client devices is performing client-side rendering.