diff --git a/stim/image/image.h b/stim/image/image.h
index 674bf9f..beae621 100644
--- a/stim/image/image.h
+++ b/stim/image/image.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <limits>
+#include <typeinfo>
 
 namespace stim{
 /// This static class provides the STIM interface for loading, saving, and storing 2D images.
@@ -57,13 +58,23 @@ class image{
 
 
 	int cv_type(){
-		if(std::is_same<T, unsigned char>::value)	return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_8U, (int)C());
-		else if(std::is_same<T, char>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_8S, (int)C());
-		else if(std::is_same<T, unsigned short>::value)	return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_16U, (int)C());
-		else if(std::is_same<T, short>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_16S, (int)C());
-		else if(std::is_same<T, int>::value)				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_32S, (int)C());
-		else if(std::is_same<T, float>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_32F, (int)C());
-		else if(std::is_same<T, double>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_64F, (int)C());
+		// The following is C++ 11 code, but causes problems on some compilers (ex. nvcc). Below is my best approximation to a solution
+
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned char>::value)	return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_8U, (int)C());
+		//if(std::is_same<T, char>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_8S, (int)C());
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned short>::value)	return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_16U, (int)C());
+		//if(std::is_same<T, short>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_16S, (int)C());
+		//if(std::is_same<T, int>::value)				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_32S, (int)C());
+		//if(std::is_same<T, float>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_32F, (int)C());
+		//if(std::is_same<T, double>::value)			return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_64F, (int)C());
+
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned char))		return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_8U, (int)C());
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(char))				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_8S, (int)C());
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned short))		return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_16U, (int)C());
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(short))				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_16S, (int)C());
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(int))				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_32S, (int)C());
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(float))				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_32F, (int)C());
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(double))				return CV_MAKETYPE(CV_64F, (int)C());
 
 		std::cout<<"ERROR in stim::image::cv_type - no valid data type found"<<std::endl;
 		exit(1);
@@ -71,15 +82,26 @@ class image{
 
 	/// Returns the value for "white" based on the dynamic range (assumes white is 1.0 for floating point images)
 	T white(){
-		if(std::is_same<T, unsigned char>::value)		return UCHAR_MAX;
-		else if(std::is_same<T, unsigned short>::value)		return SHRT_MAX;
-		else if(std::is_same<T, unsigned>::value)			return UINT_MAX;
-		else if(std::is_same<T, unsigned long>::value)		return ULONG_MAX;
-		else if(std::is_same<T, unsigned long long>::value)	return ULLONG_MAX;
-		else if(std::is_same<T, float>::value)				return 1.0f;
-		else if(std::is_same<T, double>::value)				return 1.0;
+		// The following is C++ 11 code, but causes problems on some compilers (ex. nvcc). Below is my best approximation to a solution
+
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned char>::value)		return UCHAR_MAX;
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned short>::value)		return SHRT_MAX;
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned>::value)			return UINT_MAX;
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned long>::value)		return ULONG_MAX;
+		//if(std::is_same<T, unsigned long long>::value)	return ULLONG_MAX;
+		//if(std::is_same<T, float>::value)				return 1.0f;
+		//if(std::is_same<T, double>::value)				return 1.0;
+
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned char))		return UCHAR_MAX;
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned short))		return SHRT_MAX;
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned))			return UINT_MAX;
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned long))		return ULONG_MAX;
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(unsigned long long))	return ULLONG_MAX;
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(float))				return 1.0f;
+		if(typeid(T) == typeid(double))				return 1.0;
 
 		std::cout<<"ERROR in stim::image::white - no white value known for this data type"<<std::endl;
+		exit(1);
 
 	}
 
--
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