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Image MIME Reference
AOL-ART

AOL ART Image

image/x-jg
VS

AV1 Image File Format

image/avif
AVIF

A complete technical comparison of AOL ART Image and AV1 Image File Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

AVIF wins on browser support

Feature Support

Feature AOL-ART AVIF
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading Yes ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No Yes
ICC Color Profile ✕ No Yes
AOL ART Image
image/x-jg
Extension
.art
Container Johnson-Grace Proprietary
Compression Proprietary Wavelet (Photos) / Proprietary Palette-based (Graphics)
Algorithm
Wavelet (similar to early JPEG 2000 concepts)Lossy DCT
Color Depth 8-bit (Indexed), 24-bit (RGB)
Developed by Johnson-Grace Company (Acquired by AOL)
Released 1994
Magic Bytes
4A 47 03 00 or 4A 47 04 00
Full AOL-ART reference →
AV1 Image File Format
image/avif
Extension
.avif
Container HEIF / ISOBMFF
Compression AV1 Lossy / AV1 Lossless
Algorithm
AV1
Color Depth 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit
Developed by Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia)
Released 2019
Magic Bytes
XX XX XX XX 66 74 79 70 61 76 69 66
Full AVIF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser AOL-ART AVIF
Chrome Chrome
✕
✓ 85+
Firefox Firefox
✕
✓ 93+
Safari Safari
✕
✓ 16+
Edge Edge
✕
✓ 121+
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
AOL-ART

AOL-ART Strengths

  • Historically provided massive file size reductions (up to 3x smaller than JPEGs of the era) and highly optimized progressive rendering for 14.4k modems
  • Enabled faster web browsing on the AOL network during the early days of the commercial internet
Limitations
  • Completely proprietary, heavily patent-encumbered, and never officially reverse-engineered for the open-source community
  • On-the-fly proxy compression ruined the visual fidelity of many 1990s websites for AOL users
  • Virtually impossible to open on modern operating systems without installing niche, legacy image viewers
AVIF

AVIF Strengths

  • Best-in-class compression — typically 20–50% smaller than WebP at equivalent quality
  • Native HDR and wide color gamut (BT.2020) support
  • Supports 8, 10, and 12-bit color depth
Limitations
  • Encoding is highly CPU-intensive — significantly slower than JPEG or WebP
  • Requires Edge 121+ (not supported in earlier Edge versions)
  • Limited support in native desktop image viewers

When to choose which format

AOL-ART
Use AOL-ART when…
  • Historical AOL Dial-up Web Browsing
  • Legacy America Online Client Assets
  • 1990s Internet Archival
AVIF
Use AVIF when…
  • Next-Gen Websites
  • HDR Photography
  • High-Quality Web Images

More comparisons

AOL-ART vs ACES → AVIF vs ACES → AOL-ART vs APNG → AVIF vs APNG → AOL-ART vs AVCI → AVIF vs AVCI → AOL-ART vs AVCS → AVIF vs AVCS → All comparisons →
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