Image File Formats - JPEG, GIF, PNG

What's the difference between a JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc...?

[JochCool]

Summary:

* *JPEG*: tiny file size, lossy compression. Bad at sharp edges/curves.
* *GIF*: lossless compression, animatable. Only 256 colours.
* *PNG*: lossless compression, no compression artifacts, transparency. Larger file size.
* *TIFF*: supports any colour palette and compression as it's a container format, popular among photographers. Very large file size.
* *SVG*: scalable without any quality loss. File size depends on how complex the image is, rather than the amount of pixels.
* *RAW*: raw, minimally processed data from camera.
* *HEIF*: supports animation and is higher quality than JPEG and GIF.
* *BMP*: stores each pixel individually. Supports transparency. Very large file size.


Note: file sizes aren't always smaller or larger; some formats are optimised for certain types of images. For example, PNG is smallest if you use few different colours.
Edit: updated with information from the replies.

[AlFasGD]

I'd like to see videos about the different file formats for audio and video as well, or even different types of media or documents if possible.

[DigitalMetal]

"A RAW files isn't an actual picture, but it just contains the information to create one."
I'm pretty sure that's true of all digital image formats.

[MK-expb]

Discovering png was one of the greatest things in my life

[mvShooting]

Please END JPG on logos, graphics or cliparts. It's just awful to see people using JPG-compressed logos all over the place.

[luizftavares]

I only use JPEG to deep fry images with ungodly amounts of compression

[ocelot]

Do an episode on MP3, OGG, WAV and FLAC

[hiramcota]

audio changes around 1:16
it's nothing extreme, but it sounded weird

[MinecraftToonLink]

My favorite image format is actually PNG for a few reasons:

1. It supports transparency, and that’s a great feature to have for me especially, since I’m a graphics designer for myself.

2. The quality of images PNG provides are actually very good! Unlike JPEGs which have those “JPEG Artifacts”, as I like to call them, when viewed up close, and it looks absolutely terrible!

3. PNGs don’t take up that much space. I mean, JPEGs do take up a lot less space than PNGs, but mostly due to the JPEG Compression Artifacts, but PNGs still don’t take up that much more space than JPEGs anyways, since you’ll be getting a much better quality image with just a general file size increase.

And you’ll probably notice that I compared PNGs to JPEGs, and in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I despise JPEGs for the reasons I stated above. Additionally, I’ll use TIFF images exclusively for Desktop Pictures & Wallpapers.

[jbburns]

Video format, codec, container video please!

For example, mkv (container) x264 (video codec), h.264 (video format)... and of course the audio and subtitles side

[brianspragge]

1:13 Woah that sounds change in his voice

[vandalest]

GIF's use indexed colours or palette, meaning a GIF can only have up to 256 colours but you can chose what colours to have in the palette from 24-bit RGB color space. Animated GIF's can have different pallete for each frame. Also GIFs can have one color defined as a transparency. but making it a pixely edged transparency. PNG's can have a fourth layer of color witch is aplha (or RGBA), giving more smoother transparency edges. PNG's can be smaller than JPEG's if the image has lot of same color surfaces. Company logos, witch are in two colors can be much smaller filesize and better in quality when saved in PNG and larger and with artifacts if in JPEG's. Canon new cameras have a RAW format with Double Pixel data (DP) witch gives new option to make small focus adjustments after the photo is taken.

[matteorizzo]

Definitely an episode for MOV, MP4, M4A and such formats.

[natemevec]

It's been a solid few months since I watched a Techquickie video. Quality is noticeably improved. Great work Jon and editors keep it up 👍

[Thuazabi]

John did a great job in this video, don't get the negative comments about that. On a completely different note, he reminds a lot of Michael Swaim (from After Hours) in this video for some reason - maybe it's the facial hair (not used to seeing him with it).

[JeyAnirudhJekka]

0:04
WTF!!! I searched the whole comments section!! No one noticed Linus's face there?! He looks better this way tho.

[pvaultstar]

Yes! More videos like this, please. I'm a self-taught/still learning web dev and graphic designer and clear and concise information about all of the things you could cover is really lacking on the internet. It's there, but it's from tons of different sources, often times they're long articles that take while to read, blah blah blah. You should definitely do an audio formats video and probably not even stop there.

[kbzonmarko]

Great Video. Can you guys do "Audio Formats" next? Thank you!

[ChrisThe]

PNG - Best general purpose format. Lossless compression, so good image quality for photos, text, graphics etc.
JPEG - Bullshit. Should only be used when nothing matters. Doesn't work at all for text or graphics due to lossy compression.
SVG - Good for graphics. Scaleable, so no limited resolutions. Doesn't work for photos.
GIF - Outdated. Completely replaced by PNG. Shouldn't be used anymore due to limited resolution and colors.
BMP - Old, but very simple. PNG is superior for general use, but BMP is marvelous for integration into custom programs.
TIFF - Can contain lots of different formats. Don't use it unless you know what you are doing. If you do know it is great for keeping image quality, specifically higher than 8bit per color channel (R, G, B). Supports different color spaces, thus very useful for professional printing (CMYK).
RAW - Best for editing. Not useful for any other purpose.

[SupaEMT]

*YES!* More please. Typically it's difficult to find a quick, fun fact YoutTube video which teaches the view of digital file formats and how they came to be -- very odd given that we all use computers and mobile devices to view content on YouTube. There are so many different file types that I think this channel could again -- as has always -- exceeded my expectations. I look forward to more of these types of videos in the future! Thanks.