Difference Between Image formats
The JPEG Format
The JPEG format support for 16.7 million colors, is primarily intended for photographic images. The internal compression algorithm of the JPEG format, unlike the GIF format, actually throws out information. Once you lower the quality of an image, and save it, the extra data cannot be regained so be sure to save the original.
The GIF Format
The GIF format is one of the most popular formats on the Internet. Not only is the format excellent at compressing areas of images with large areas of the same color, but it is also the only option for putting animation online. The GIF89a format also supports transparency, and interlacing.
GIF files support a maximum of 256 colors, which makes them practical for almost all graphics except photographs. It is important to note that GIF already uses the LZW compression scheme internally to make images as small as possible without losing any data.
The PNG format
The third, and newest, file format that’s widely supported by the Web is PNG (pronounced Ping). PNG was developed to surpass the limitations of GIFs, and as a means by which developers can avoid having to worry about the patent licenses associated with other formats. PNG was designed to offer the main features of the GIF format, including streaming and progressive file formats. It also provides greater depth of color, catering to images up to 24 bit in color. It is important to note that it doesn’t support animation.
Tags: GIF, Image format, JPEG, PNG