Free webp to jpg
EN
Image MIME Reference
Canon-CR2

Canon Raw Version 2

image/x-canon-cr2
VS

Khronos Texture

image/ktx
KTX

A complete technical comparison of Canon Raw Version 2 and Khronos Texture — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Canon-CR2 KTX
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
Canon Raw Version 2
image/x-canon-cr2
Extension
.cr2
Container TIFF
Compression Lossless JPEG (ITU-T81)
Algorithm
Lossless JPEG (ITU-T81)
Color Depth 12-bit (Per Channel), 14-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Canon Inc.
Released 2004
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00 10 00 00 00 43 52 02 00
Full Canon-CR2 reference →
Khronos Texture
image/ktx
Extension
.ktx
Container KTX (Khronos Texture 1.1)
Compression Uncompressed / GPU Compressed (ASTC, ETC, BCn, PVRTC)
Algorithm
ASTCETC1 / ETC2BCn (DXT)PVRTCBasis Universal (in KTX2)
Color Depth 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit (Integer/Float)
Developed by Khronos Group
Released 2010
Magic Bytes
AB 4B 54 58 20 31 31 BB 0D 0A 1A 0A
Full KTX reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Canon-CR2 KTX
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
Canon-CR2

Canon-CR2 Strengths

  • Retains maximum sensor data, allowing extreme recovery of highlights and shadows that would be permanently lost in a JPEG
  • White balance and color profiling are not 'baked in', meaning they can be completely altered in post-production without degrading the image
  • Lossless compression ensures perfect pixel accuracy while reducing file size compared to fully uncompressed formats
Limitations
  • Proprietary format means it requires constant updates to raw processing engines (like Adobe Camera Raw) every time Canon releases a new camera model
  • Produces very large file sizes (often 20MB to 40MB per image depending on sensor resolution)
  • Cannot be directly embedded into web pages or used in standard HTML/CSS contexts
KTX

KTX Strengths

  • Enables direct-to-GPU texture uploading, drastically reducing load times and CPU overhead in 3D applications
  • Supports complex texture types natively (mipmaps, cubemaps, 3D volumes, texture arrays)
  • Standardized across major Khronos APIs (OpenGL, Vulkan, WebGL) unlike vendor-specific formats like DDS
Limitations
  • Requires custom JavaScript loaders to parse and display on the web
  • Zero native support in consumer image viewers or 2D photo editing software
  • Format fragmentation: a KTX file containing an ASTC payload will fail to render on hardware that only supports BCn compression (KTX2 and Basis Universal solve this)

When to choose which format

Canon-CR2
Use Canon-CR2 when…
  • Professional Digital Photography
  • Non-destructive Image Post-Processing
  • High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging Archival
KTX
Use KTX when…
  • Real-time 3D Graphics
  • WebGL / WebGPU Applications
  • Mobile Games
  • Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR)

More comparisons

Canon-CR2 vs ACES → KTX vs ACES → Canon-CR2 vs APNG → KTX vs APNG → Canon-CR2 vs AVCI → KTX vs AVCI → Canon-CR2 vs AVCS → KTX vs AVCS → Canon-CR2 vs AVIF → KTX vs AVIF → All comparisons →
Share this comparison