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Image MIME Reference
BTIF

Bank Telecommunications Image Format

image/prs.btif
VS

X Pixmap

image/x-xpixmap
XPM

A complete technical comparison of Bank Telecommunications Image Format and X Pixmap — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature BTIF XPM
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
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 →
X Pixmap
image/x-xpixmap
Extension
.xpm
Container C Source Code Header (.c / .h)
Compression Uncompressed (Source Code)
Algorithm
None
Color Depth Indexed Color (Custom Palette with RGB and Alpha 'None')
Developed by Daniel Dardailler and Colas Nahaboo (Bull / X Consortium)
Released 1989
Magic Bytes
2F 2A 20 58 50 4D 20 2A 2F (ASCII '/* XPM */')
Full XPM reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser BTIF XPM
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕
✓
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
XPM

XPM Strengths

  • Can be compiled directly into C or C++ source code without requiring an external asset loading mechanism
  • Human-readable palette mapping allows developers to inspect, modify, or hand-craft icons directly within a text editor
  • Native support for color palettes and transparency via the 'None' keyword
Limitations
  • Extremely inefficient storage structure for large images, resulting in massive file bloat compared to binary formats like PNG
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported in modern web browsers
  • Parsing overhead requires compiling or interpreting text-based color tables at runtime

When to choose which format

BTIF
Use BTIF when…
  • Bank Check Archiving (Legacy)
  • Financial Transaction Records
XPM
Use XPM when…
  • X Window System (X11) Application Icons and Cursors
  • Embedded C/C++ Firmware Color UI Assets
  • Early Linux Desktop Environment Themes

More comparisons

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