Just like the VHS vs. Betamax wars of my generation and the "network effect" of Ethereum of today, image formats are also battling for supremacy as we speak.

Whether the convenience factor and uber-marketing will make the lesser technology prevail again is anybody's guess.

The .jpeg format is better for images than .gif.

(image by IDRsolutions)

But .gif offers animation.

image by FreewaySocial)

Both are VERY old technologies.

The New Image Formats -

[Don't worry. I won't bore you with an education about the difference of "lossy" vs. "lossless" capabilities. You can learn about those on your own. ]

Suffice it to say that the newer formats like .png and .webp are far superior to .jpeg and .gif for images; bettering them in resolution, vibrancy and file size economy.

(image by tech-blogs)

Furthermore, .webp and .apng can render more than the limited 256 colors of .gif and are much smaller in size; meaning, much faster loading times and more opportunities for enhanced uploading of art.

(image by logo.wine)

So why aren't we enjoying these new formats universally? In a word: "Adoption". Not all browsers support .webp.

And even less support .apng. WebP was announced in 2010. It’s 100% compatible for anyone that’s using Chrome (including Chrome based browsers like Brave) or Opera which accounts for around 63% of users.

But currently, neither Firefox nor Safari natively support WebP without plugins.

Even if the browser is compatible, specific websites may NOT be.

For example, Torum is not compatible with the .webp format.

In fact, even .gif images appear static when used in Torum Threads. Same goes for Publish0x.

On Steemit, animated .webp images display but remain static. But on Creary.net and Hive.blog, animated .webp images are fully recognized and display correctly.

Knowing about these formats can help all digital artists overcome the file size limitations on most art websites.

For example, if the site accepts .webp images and has a 5MB limit for .gif images, you can convert your 12MB .gif into a 4MB .webp - without any loss of resolution.

(Image by creary.net)

(image by Hive.blog)
And for all Website Admins:

These new formats equal less space and faster loading times. Can you say, "Better user experience, more versatility and less file storage fees?"

Submitted FYI.

May you and yours be well and loving life today.

In Lak'ech, JaiChai

(JaiChai 25 NOV 2021. Simultaneous multi-site submissions posted. All rights reserved.)