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Image MIME Reference
BMP

Windows Bitmap (Legacy Windows MIME Alias)

image/x-windows-bmp
VS

Silicon Graphics Image

image/x-rgb
SGI-RGB

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

BMP wins on browser support

Feature Support

Feature BMP SGI-RGB
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
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 →
Silicon Graphics Image
image/x-rgb
Extension
.rgb.sgi.rgba.bw.int.inta
Container SGI Image Header (512 bytes)
Compression Uncompressed / Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
Algorithm
NoneScanline RLE
Color Depth 8-bit (Per Channel), 16-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. (Paul Haeberli)
Released 1988
Magic Bytes
01 DA
Full SGI-RGB reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser BMP SGI-RGB
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
SGI-RGB

SGI-RGB Strengths

  • Supports 16-bit precision per channel and an embedded alpha channel, making it ideal for the demanding compositing workflows of 1990s cinema VFX
  • The scanline-based RLE compression was exceptionally fast to decode on classic MIPS-based SGI workstations
  • Features a straightforward 512-byte header, making it relatively easy to parse and write custom decoders in C or Python
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported in modern web environments
  • Replaced entirely by TIFF, OpenEXR, and PNG in modern visual effects and 3D rendering pipelines
  • Lacks support for modern color management via ICC profiles or advanced EXIF metadata

When to choose which format

BMP
Use BMP when…
  • Legacy Windows Desktop Registry Associations
  • Older Enterprise Intranet Applications
  • Windows Graphics Archival
SGI-RGB
Use SGI-RGB when…
  • Legacy 3D Animation and VFX Textures
  • Silicon Graphics IRIX Workstation Archival
  • 1990s Medical Imaging

More comparisons

BMP vs ACES → SGI-RGB vs ACES → BMP vs APNG → SGI-RGB vs APNG → BMP vs AVCI → SGI-RGB vs AVCI → BMP vs AVCS → SGI-RGB vs AVCS → BMP vs AVIF → SGI-RGB vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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