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Image MIME Reference
ACES

ACES Image Container File

image/aces
VS

JPEG XS Image

image/jxs
JPEG-XS

A complete technical comparison of ACES Image Container File and JPEG XS Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature ACES JPEG-XS
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No Yes
ICC Color Profile ✕ No Yes
ACES Image Container File
image/aces
Extension
.exr
Container OpenEXR (SMPTE ST 2065-4)
Compression Lossless / Uncompressed
Algorithm
PIZZIPRLEB44Uncompressed
Color Depth 16-bit (Half-float), 32-bit (Float)
Developed by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) / SMPTE
Released 2013
Magic Bytes
76 2F 31 01
Full ACES reference →
JPEG XS Image
image/jxs
Extension
.jxs
Container ISOBMFF (ISO/IEC 21122-3) or Raw Codestream
Compression Lossy (Visually Lossless) / Mathematically Lossless
Algorithm
JPEG XS (Low-complexity wavelet transform)
Color Depth 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, 14-bit, 16-bit
Developed by Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) / intoPIX
Released 2019
Magic Bytes
FF 10 (Codestream) / XX XX XX XX 66 74 79 70 6A 78 73 20 (ISOBMFF)
Full JPEG-XS reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser ACES JPEG-XS
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
ACES

ACES Strengths

  • Industry standard for high-end visual effects, compositing, and color grading
  • Supports 16-bit half-float data, accurately capturing immense dynamic range without clipping
  • Standardized by SMPTE (ST 2065-4) to guarantee universal color interoperability across different post-production facilities
Limitations
  • Considerably larger file sizes than conventional consumer image formats
  • Completely unsupported in web browsers and most standard desktop viewers
  • Requires specialized compositing or color grading software to interpret and view the scene-linear data correctly
JPEG-XS

JPEG-XS Strengths

  • Provides sub-millisecond encoding/decoding latency, essential for live production and gaming
  • Extremely lightweight, requiring very little CPU, GPU, or FPGA memory to process
  • Replaces uncompressed video links (like SDI or HDMI) over standard Ethernet networks with visually lossless quality
Limitations
  • Compression ratios are typically much lower (between 2:1 and 10:1) compared to heavy codecs like HEVC or AV1
  • Zero support in web browsers or standard consumer devices
  • Primarily licensed to hardware manufacturers and professional software ecosystems

When to choose which format

ACES
Use ACES when…
  • Visual Effects (VFX)
  • Digital Intermediate (DI)
  • Color Grading
  • Archival
JPEG-XS
Use JPEG-XS when…
  • Live Video Broadcasting (SMPTE ST 2110)
  • Video over IP Networks
  • Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
  • Automotive & Drone Cameras

More comparisons

ACES vs APNG → JPEG-XS vs APNG → ACES vs AVCI → JPEG-XS vs AVCI → ACES vs AVCS → JPEG-XS vs AVCS → ACES vs AVIF → JPEG-XS vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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