Free webp to jpg
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Image MIME Reference
BMP

Windows Bitmap (Legacy Windows MIME Alias)

image/x-windows-bmp
VS

JPEG XS Image

image/jxs
JPEG-XS

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

BMP wins on browser support

Feature Support

Feature BMP JPEG-XS
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
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 →
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 BMP JPEG-XS
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
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

BMP
Use BMP when…
  • Legacy Windows Desktop Registry Associations
  • Older Enterprise Intranet Applications
  • Windows Graphics 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

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