JPEG/JFIF

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a compression method; JPEG-compressed images are

usually stored in the JFIF (JPEG File Interchange Format) file format. JPEG compression is (in most
cases) lossy compression. The JPEG/JFIF filename extension is JPG orJPEG. Nearly every digital
camera can save images in the JPEG/JFIF format, which supports 8 bits per color (red, green, blue) for a
24-bit total, producing relatively small files. When not too great, the compression does not noticeably
detract from the image's quality, but JPEG files suffer generational degradation when repeatedly edited
and saved. The JPEG/JFIF format also is used as the image compression algorithm in many PDF files.

Exif

The Exif (Exchangeable image file format) format is a file standard similar to the JFIF format with TIFF
extensions; it is incorporated in the JPEG-writing software used in most cameras. Its purpose is to record
and to standardize the exchange of images with image metadatabetween digital cameras and editing and
viewing software. The metadata are recorded for individual images and include such things as camera
settings, time and date, shutter speed, exposure, image size, compression, name of camera, color
information, etc. When images are viewed or edited by image editing software, all of this image
information can be displayed.
[edit]TIFF
The TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format is a flexible format that normally saves 8 bits or 16 bits per
color (red, green, blue) for 24-bit and 48-bit totals, respectively, usually using either
the TIFF or TIF filename extension. TIFF's flexibility can be both an advantage and disadvantage, since a
reader that reads every type of TIFF file does not exist. TIFFs can be lossy and lossless; some offer
relatively good lossless compression for bi-level (black&white) images. Some digital cameras can save in
TIFF format, using the LZW compression algorithm for lossless storage. TIFF image format is not widely
supported by web browsers. TIFF remains widely accepted as a photograph file standard in the printing
business. TIFF can handle device-specific color spaces, such as the CMYK defined by a particular set of
printing press inks. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software packages commonly generate some
(often monochromatic) form of TIFF image for scanned text pgs.
[edit]RAW
RAW refers to a family of raw image formats that are options available on some digital cameras. These
formats usually use a lossless or nearly-lossless compression, and produce file sizes much smaller than
the TIFF formats of full-size processed images from the same cameras. Although there is a standard raw
image format, (ISO 12234-2, TIFF/EP), the raw formats used by most cameras are not standardized or
documented, and differ among camera manufacturers. Many graphic programs and image editors may
not accept some or all of them, and some older ones have been effectively orphaned already.
Adobe's Digital Negative (DNG) specification is an attempt at standardizing a raw image format to be
used by cameras, or for archival storage of image data converted from undocumented raw image formats,
and is used by several niche and minority camera manufacturers including Pentax, Leica, and Samsung.
The raw image formats of more than 230 camera models, including those from manufacturers with the
largest market shares such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, andOlympus, can be converted to DNG.[1] DNG was
based on ISO 12234-2, TIFF/EP, and ISO's revision of TIFF/EP is reported to be adding Adobe's
modifications and developments made for DNG into profile 2 of the new version of the standard.

As far as videocameras are concerned, ARRI's Arriflex D-20 and D-21 cameras provide raw 3K-resolution

sensor data with Bayern pattern as still images (one per frame) in a proprietary format (.ari file
extension). Red Digital Cinema Camera Company, with its Mysterium sensor family of still and video
cameras, uses its proprietary raw format called REDCODE (.R3D extension), which stores still as well as
audio+video information in one lossy-compressed file.
[edit]PNG
The PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file format was created as the free, open-source successor to the
GIF. The PNG file format supports truecolor (16 million colors) while the GIF supports only 256 colors.
The PNG file excels when the image has large, uniformly colored areas. The lossless PNG format is best
suited for editing pictures, and the lossy formats, like JPG, are best for the final distribution of
photographic images, because in this case JPG files are usually smaller than PNG files. The Adam7-
interlacing allows an early preview, even when only a small percentage of the image data has been
transmitted.

PNG provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF.
Indexed-color, grayscale, and truecolor images are supported, plus an optional alpha channel.

PNG is designed to work well in online viewing applications like web browsers so it is fully streamable
with a progressive display option. PNG is robust, providing both full file integrity checking and simple
detection of common transmission errors. Also, PNG can store gamma and chromaticity data for
improved color matching on heterogeneous platforms.

Some programs do not handle PNG gamma correctly, which can cause the images to be saved or
displayed darker than they should be.[2]

Animated formats derived from PNG are MNG and APNG. The latter is supported by Mozilla
Firefox and Opera and is backwards compatible with PNG.
[edit]GIF
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is limited to an 8-bit palette, or 256 colors. This makes the GIF format
suitable for storing graphics with relatively few colors such as simple diagrams, shapes, logos and
cartoon style images. The GIF format supports animation and is still widely used to provide image
animation effects. It also uses a lossless compression that is more effective when large areas have a
single color, and ineffective for detailed images or dithered images.
[edit]BMP
The BMP file format (Windows bitmap) handles graphics files within the Microsoft Windows OS.
Typically, BMP files are uncompressed, hence they are large; the advantage is their simplicity and wide
acceptance in Windows programs.
[edit]PPM, PGM, PBM, PNM
Netpbm format is a family including the portable pixmap file format (PPM), the portable graymap file
format (PGM) and the portable bitmap file format (PBM). These are either pure ASCII files or raw binary
files with an ASCII header that provide very basic functionality and serve as a lowest-common-
denominator for converting pixmap, graymap, or bitmap files between different platforms. Several
applications refer to them collectively as PNM format (Portable Any Map).
[edit]WEBP
WebP is a new image format that uses lossy compression. It was designed by Google to reduce image
file size to speed up web page loading: its principal purpose is to supersede JPEG as the primary format
for photographs on the web.

WebP is based on VP8's intra-frame coding and uses a container based on RIFF.
[edit]Others
Other image file formats of raster type include:

 JPEG XR (New JPEG standard based on Microsoft HD Photo)

 TGA (TARGA)
 ILBM (InterLeaved BitMap)
 PCX (Personal Computer eXchange)
 ECW (Enhanced Compression Wavelet)
 IMG (ERDAS IMAGINE Image)
 SID (multiresolution seamless image database, MrSID)
 CD5 (Chasys Draw Image)
 FITS (Flexible Image Transport System)
 PGF (Progressive Graphics File)
 XCF (eXperimental Computing Facility format, native GIMP format)
 PSD (Adobe PhotoShop Document)
 PSP (Corel Paint Shop Pro)
[edit]Vector formats
Main article:  vector graphics

As opposed to the raster image formats above (where the data describes the characteristics of each
individual pixel), vector image formats contain a geometric description which can be rendered smoothly at
any desired display size.

Vector file formats can contain bitmap data as well. 3D graphic file formats are technically vector formats
with pixel data texture mapping on the surface of a vector virtual object, warped to match the angle of the
viewing perspective.

At some point, all vector graphics must be rasterized in order to be displayed on digital monitors.
However, vector images can be displayed with analog CRT technology such as that used in
some electronic test equipment, medical monitors, radar displays, laser shows and early video
games. Plotters are printers that use vector data rather than pixel data to draw graphics.
[edit]CGM
CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) is a file format for 2D vector graphics, raster graphics, and text, and is
defined by ISO/IEC 8632. Allgraphical elements can be specified in a textual source file that can be
compiled into a binary file or one of two text representations. CGM provides a means of graphics data
interchange for computer representation of 2D graphical information independent from any particular
application, system, platform, or device. It has been adopted to some extent in the areas of technical
illustration and professional design, but has largely been superseded by formats such as SVG and DXF.
[edit]Gerber Format (RS-274X)
RS-274X Extended Gerber Format[3] was developed by Gerber Systems Corp., now Ucamco. This is a
2D bi-level image description format. It is the de-facto standard format used by printed circuit board or
PCB software. It is also widely used in other industries requiring high-precision 2D bi-level images.
[edit]SVG
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an open standard created and developed by the World Wide Web
Consortium to address the need (and attempts of several corporations) for a versatile, scriptable and all-
purpose vector format for the web and otherwise. The SVG format does not have a compression scheme
of its own, but due to the textual nature of XML, an SVG graphic can be compressed using a program
such asgzip. Because of its scripting potential, SVG is a key component in web applications: interactive
web pages that look and act like applications.
[edit]Others
Other image file formats of vector type include:

 AI (Adobe Illustrator)
 CDR (CorelDRAW)
 EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
 HVIF (Haiku Vector Icon Format)
 ODG (OpenDocument Graphics)
 PDF (Portable Document Format)
 PGML (Precision Graphics Markup Language)
 SWF (Shockwave Flash)
 VML (Vector Markup Language)
 WMF / EMF (Windows Metafile / Enhanced Metafile)
 XPS (XML Paper Specification)
[edit]Stereo formats
[edit]PNS
The PNG Stereo (.pns) format consists of a side-by-side image based on PNG (Portable Network
Graphics).
[edit]JPS
The JPEG Stereo (.jps) format consists of a side-by-side image format based on JPEG.

See also:  Comparison of audio formats  and List of codecs

 3gp - multimedia container format can contain proprietary formats as AMR, AMR-WB or AMR-

WB+, but also some open formats
 act - ACT is a lossy ADPCM 8 kbit/s compressed audio format recorded by most Chinese MP3
and MP4 players with a recording function, and voice recorders
 AIFF – standard audio file format used by Apple. It could be considered the Apple equivalent
of wav.
 aac – the Advanced Audio Coding format is based on the MPEG2 and MPEG4 standards. aac
files are usually ADTS or ADIF containers.
 ALAC - Apple Lossless compression, a lossless compression format from Apple.
 amr - AMR-NB audio, used primarily for speech.
 atrac (.wav) – the older style Sony ATRAC format. It always has a .wav file extension. To open
these files, install the ATRAC3 drivers.
 Au – the standard audio file format used by Sun, Unix and Java. The audio in au files can
be PCM or compressed with the μ-law, a-law orG729 codecs.
 awb - AMR-WB audio, used primarily for speech, same as the ITU-T's G.722.2 specification.
 dct – A variable codec format designed for dictation. It has dictation header information and can
be encrypted (as may be required by medical confidentiality laws).
 dss – Digital Speech Standard files are an Olympus proprietary format. It is a fairly old and poor
codec. Gsm or mp3 are generally preferred where the recorder allows. It allows additional data to be
held in the file header.
 dvf – a Sony proprietary format for compressed voice files; commonly used by Sony dictation
recorders.
 flac – File format for the Free Lossless Audio Codec, a lossless compression codec.
 gsm – designed for telephony use in Europe, gsm is a very practical format for telephone quality
voice. It makes a good compromise between file size and quality. Note that wav files can also be
encoded with the gsm codec.
 iklax – An iKlax Media proprietary format, the iKlax format is a multi-track digital audio format
allowing various actions on musical data, for instance on mixing and volumes arrangements.
 IVS – A proprietary version with Digital Rights Management developed by 3D Solar UK Ltd for
use in music downloaded from their Tronme Music Store and interactive music and video player.
 m4p – A proprietary version of AAC in MP4 with Digital Rights Management developed by Apple
for use in music downloaded from theiriTunes Music Store.
 mmf - a Samsung audio format that is used in ringtones.
 mpc - Musepack or MPC (formerly known as MPEGplus, MPEG+ or MP+) is an open source
lossy audio codec, specifically optimized for transparent compression of stereo audio at bitrates of
160–180 kbit/s.
 msv – a Sony proprietary format for Memory Stick compressed voice files.
 mxp4 – a Musinaut proprietary format allowing play of different versions (or skins) of the same
song. It allows various interactivity scenarios between the artist and the end user.
 ogg – a free, open source container format supporting a variety of formats, the most popular of
which is the audio format Vorbis. Vorbis offers compression similar to MP3 but is less popular.
 ra & rm – a Real Audio format designed for streaming audio over the Internet. The .ra format
allows files to be stored in a self-contained fashion on a computer, with all of the audio data contained
inside the file itself.
 ram – a text file that contains a link to the Internet address where the Real Audio file is stored.
The .ram file contains no audio data itself.
 raw – a raw file can contain audio in any format but is usually used with PCM audio data. It is
rarely used except for technical tests.
 TTA - The True Audio, real-time lossless audio codec.
 vox – the vox format most commonly uses the Dialogic ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code
Modulation) codec. Similar to other ADPCM formats, it compresses to 4-bits. Vox format files are
similar to wave files except that the vox files contain no information about the file itself so the codec
sample rate and number of channels must first be specified in order to play a vox file.
 wav – standard audio file container format used mainly in Windows PCs. Commonly used for
storing uncompressed (PCM), CD-quality sound files, which means that they can be large in size—
around 10 MB per minute. Wave files can also contain data encoded with a variety of (lossy) codecs
to reduce the file size (for example the GSM or MP3 formats). Wav files use a RIFF structure.
 wma – the popular Windows Media Audio format owned by Microsoft. Designed with Digital
Rights Management (DRM) abilities for copy protection.

Some containers are exclusive to audio:

 AIFF (IFF file format, widely used on Mac OS platform)

 WAV (RIFF file format, widely used on Windows platform)
 XMF (Extensible Music Format)

Other containers are exclusive to still images:

 FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) still images, raw data, and associated metadata.
 TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) still images and associated metadata.

Other flexible containers can hold many types of audio and video, as well as other media. The most
popular multi-media containers are:

 3GP (used by many mobile phones; based on the ISO base media file format)
 ASF (container for Microsoft WMA and WMV, which today usually do not use a container)
 AVI (the standard Microsoft Windows container, also based on RIFF)
 DVR-MS ("Microsoft Digital Video Recording", proprietary video container format developed by
Microsoft based on ASF)
 Flash Video (FLV, F4V) (container for video and audio from Adobe Systems)
 IFF (first platform-independent container format)
 Matroska (MKV) (not limited to any codec or system, as it can hold virtually anything. It is an open
standard and open source container format).
 MJ2 - Motion JPEG 2000 file format, based on the ISO base media file format which is defined in
MPEG-4 Part 12 and JPEG 2000 Part 12
 QuickTime File Format (standard QuickTime video container from Apple Inc.)
 MPEG program stream (standard container for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 elementary streams on
reasonably reliable media such as disks; used also on DVD-Video discs)
 MPEG-2 transport stream (a.k.a. MPEG-TS) (standard container for digital broadcasting and for
transportation over unreliable media; used also on Blu-ray Disc video; typically contains multiple
video and audio streams, and an electronic program guide)
 MP4 (standard audio and video container for the MPEG-4 multimedia portfolio, based on the ISO
base media file format defined in MPEG-4 Part 12 and JPEG 2000 Part 12) which in turn was based
on the QuickTime file format.
 Ogg (standard container for Xiph.org audio fomat Vorbis and video format Theora)
 RM (RealMedia; standard container for RealVideo and RealAudio)

There are many other container formats, such as NUT, MXF, GXF, ratDVD, SVI, VOB and DivX Media
Format

[edit]Single coding formats

In addition to pure container formats, which specify only the wrapper but not the coding, a number of file
formats specify both a storage layer and the coding, as part of modular design and forward compatibility.

Examples include JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF) for containing JPEG data, and Portable Network

Graphics (PNG).

In principle, coding can be changed while the storage layer is retained; for example, Multiple-image
Network Graphics (MNG) uses the PNG container format but provides animation, while JPEG Network
Graphics (JNG) puts JPEG encoded data in a PNG container; in both cases however, the different
formats have different magic numbers – the format specifies the coding, though a MNG can contain both
PNG-encoded images and JPEG-encoded images.