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By Megan Davies

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Getty Images Inc GYI.N, the world's biggest picture and video supplier to media and advertising companies, received at least one takeover offer when bids were due on Monday, a source briefed on the situation said.

Getty, valued at about $1.6 billion, confirmed on January 22 that it was studying several strategic options and had hired investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research). A potential sale had been rumored for months with interest from private equity.

A separate source said it was unclear how firm any offers were or whether they were for the whole or parts of Getty.

A spokeswoman for Getty said she could not comment beyond the company's last statement.

Shares of Getty have been hit over the last year by disappointing earnings and a slowdown at its core rights-managed pictures business. It trades at 12 times estimated 2008 results, while rival Jupitermedia (JUPM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) trades at 36 times analysts' 2008 forecasts.

Digital photography companies have seen competition in the royalty-free photography business from discount Web sites offering pictures.

The company posted a lower quarterly profit last week, citing pressure from discount stock photo providers.