Image formats: JPG and PNG - these are the differences
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In the 1990s, several new image formats such as JPG and PNG were developed, all of which have their differences. We'll tell you exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of the two formats are.
Image format JPG: advantages and disadvantages
JPG or JPEG stands for "Joint Photographic Experts Group", the term PNG for "Portable Network Graphics". The background for the many new formats were patent rights that were on some image formats such as GIF and were therefore not freely available.
- Variety of colors: Both formats support a display with up to 16.7 million colors.
- Compression: The compression when saving an image in JPG format is not lossless. So that the size of the file does not increase to gigantic heights, the file size is reduced by data reduction. This means that the edges of the individual pixel blocks become slightly blurred depending on the strength of the data reduction. PNG, on the other hand, is the only image format that is compressed losslessly. So the image quality does not decrease.
- Photos: Still, most cameras save images in JPG format. It is precisely in this area that the format is weakening and, under some conditions, cannot match the quality of PNG.
- Transparency: PNG also has the advantage of being able to display or save transparent graphics. The JPG format does not know this option.
- Metadata: Both formats can store a lot of additional information about the image, the so-called metadata. This includes, among other things, the time and location of the picture and, for example, the camera model. In PNG format, however, these are not saved according to the applicable standards, which is why some programs have problems reading all metadata.
- Conclusion: The somewhat newer format PNG is superior to its competitor JPG in some points. It is crucial, however, that PNG images can be compressed losslessly and therefore the image quality does not decrease.
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