JPEG and AVIF are two types of digital image storage file formats. In this article, we will compare these two image formats.
We will consider the following factors for AVIF vs JPEG comparison.
- Year of Invention
- File extension
- Image Quality
- Compression technology
- Animation support
- Storage space
- Color depth
- Operating systems support
- Browser support
Year of Invention
AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) was first introduced in the year 2019. The AVIF format was developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). AOMedia is a consortium of technology and media companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix, among others. AVIF is a modern image format that offers superior compression and image quality compared to older formats like JPEG. The Joint Photographic Experts Group invented the JPEG image format in 1992.
File extension
The commonly used file extensions of JPEG image files are “.jpeg”, and “.jpg” whereas the file extension of AVIF file is “.avif”.
Image Quality
The AVIF image format generally offers better image quality compared to JPEG. AVIF uses advanced compression techniques, resulting in smaller file sizes while maintaining higher image fidelity. This makes AVIF a preferred choice for high-quality images, especially when size and bandwidth are considerations.
Compression technology
AVIF is a modern image compression technology that uses the AV1(AOMedia Video 1) video codec for image data compression.
The discrete cosine transform (DCT) forms the basis of JPEG compression, which is a lossy image compression technique Nasir Ahmed first proposed in 1972. Compressing images is necessary to save storage space, and during compression, it entails losing some details. The compression removes less sensitive visual details for human vision from the image.
Animation support
AVIF format supports animations, it can store multiple frames, allowing for animated content but JPEG does not support animation.
Storage space
AVIF can offer up to 50% or more storage savings compared to JPEG, making it an efficient choice for image compression.
Color depth
The color depth of AVIF is higher compared to JPEG. AVIF supports up to 16 bits per channel, resulting in more accurate and detailed color representation. On the other hand, JPEG typically supports 8 bits per channel, leading to a lower color depth and potential loss of color information.
Operating systems support
As of now most modern operating systems, including Windows 10, macOS, iOS, and Android, have built-in support for AVIF files.
All major desktop and mobile operating systems (Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, etc) support JPEG files.
Browser support
AVIF file format is supported by the following browsers: Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, and Brave. All major browsers support JPEG image format.
Conclusion
AVIF image file format allows more compression than JPEG and offers higher image fidelity. HEIC vs JPEG: What’s the difference and which is better?