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Image MIME Reference
BMP

Windows Bitmap (Legacy Windows MIME Alias)

image/x-windows-bmp
VS

Bank Telecommunications Image Format

image/prs.btif
BTIF

A complete technical comparison of Windows Bitmap (Legacy Windows MIME Alias) and Bank Telecommunications Image Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

BMP wins on browser support

Feature Support

Feature BMP BTIF
Transparency (Alpha) Yes ✕ No
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
Windows Bitmap (Legacy Windows MIME Alias)
image/x-windows-bmp
Extension
.bmp.dib
Container DIB (Device-Independent Bitmap)
Compression Uncompressed / Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
Algorithm
NoneRLE4RLE8
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome), 4-bit (16 colors), 8-bit (256 colors), 16-bit (High Color), 24-bit (True Color), 32-bit (True Color with Alpha)
Developed by Microsoft Corporation
Released 1985
Magic Bytes
42 4D
Full BMP reference →
Bank Telecommunications Image Format
image/prs.btif
Extension
.btif.btf
Container Proprietary Check Image Container
Compression Lossy (JPEG-based) / Lossless (TIFF-based)
Algorithm
JPEGTIFF-variant
Color Depth 1-bit (B&W), 8-bit (Grayscale)
Developed by NationsBank (Bank of America) / Ben Simon
Released 1998
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary container)
Full BTIF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser BMP BTIF
Chrome Chrome
✓ 1
 ✕
Firefox Firefox
✓ 1
 ✕
Safari Safari
✓ 1
 ✕
Edge Edge
✓ 12
 ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✓
 ✕
BMP

BMP Strengths

  • Universally supported by all major operating systems and modern web browsers
  • Maintains perfect, lossless fidelity because pixel data is stored without lossy compression artifacts
Limitations
  • Massive file size overhead due to a lack of modern compression algorithms
  • Legacy MIME strings like 'image/x-windows-bmp' can trigger validation warnings in strict security or API environments if unhandled
BTIF

BTIF Strengths

  • Allowed early digital archiving and web-based transmission of cleared bank checks
  • Encapsulated both image data and ASCII transaction metadata in a single file
Limitations
  • Completely proprietary and obsolete format
  • Lacks native support in modern operating systems and image viewers
  • Requires legacy plugins or specialized bio-format readers (like ImageC) to decode

When to choose which format

BMP
Use BMP when…
  • Legacy Windows Desktop Registry Associations
  • Older Enterprise Intranet Applications
  • Windows Graphics Archival
BTIF
Use BTIF when…
  • Bank Check Archiving (Legacy)
  • Financial Transaction Records

More comparisons

BMP vs ACES → BTIF vs ACES → BMP vs APNG → BTIF vs APNG → BMP vs AVCI → BTIF vs AVCI → BMP vs AVCS → BTIF vs AVCS → BMP vs AVIF → BTIF vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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