PNG which stands for Portable network Graphics is widely used and popular format of images. Though it had few major cons like it is not supported by all the browsers, with the latest compatible browsers it is becoming more and more popular. PNG is treated as a more advanced version of the GIF format with lot of improvement. The PNG image in a lossless possibly has 5% to 25% more compression than the GIF format of the same image. Transparency is the main idea behind a PNG format which is not possible with GIF up to that level. The only major disadvantage a PNG has is lack animation.
Following are major features of PNG format.
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Improved Indexation – color images of up to 256 colors.
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Streaming – It is possible to read and write PNG file in a serial order so that file format can be used as a communicating protocol.
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Progressive display – It is possible to display an PNG image as it is received as a communication link while interacting. It is shown as yielded image with the lower resolution at the start and then the original one with original specifications.
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Transparency – As discussed in the starting of this post a PNG image can be marked as a transparent one by creating effect.
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Truecolor and Grayscale images – PNG supports up to 48 bits for truecolor images and up to 16 bits for grayscale images.
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Ancillary information – It is possible to store textual comments and other type of data withing a PNG file.
- Good replacement for GIF – PNG has covered lot drawbacks of GIF format like more effective 100% lossless compression, legally unencumbered, more reliable, straightforward detection of file corruption, full alpha channel.