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Image MIME Reference
Canon-CR2

Canon Raw Version 2

image/x-canon-cr2
VS

Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)

image/x-tga
TGA

A complete technical comparison of Canon Raw Version 2 and Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias) — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Canon-CR2 TGA
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
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 →
Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)
image/x-tga
Extension
.tga.icb.vda.vst
Container Truevision TGA Footer/Header
Compression Uncompressed / Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
Algorithm
NoneRLE
Color Depth 8-bit (Grayscale or Indexed), 16-bit (High Color), 24-bit (True Color), 32-bit (True Color with Alpha Channel)
Developed by Truevision Inc.
Released 1984
Magic Bytes
54 52 55 45 56 49 53 49 4F 4E 2D 58 46 49 4C 45 2E 00 (At the end of the file)
Full TGA reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Canon-CR2 TGA
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
TGA

TGA Strengths

  • Incredibly simple byte layout allows developers to write custom loaders and exporters in a few dozen lines of code, bypassing the need for heavy external libraries
  • Native support for 8-bit alpha channels ensures flawless transparency masking for real-time 3D rendering
  • Fast, predictable RLE decoding requires almost no CPU overhead compared to DEFLATE (PNG) or DCT (JPEG)
Limitations
  • RLE compression is relatively weak by modern standards, resulting in large file sizes
  • Lacks a standard magic byte header at the beginning of the file, making file-sniffing unreliable for older v1.0 files
  • Zero support in web browsers; must be converted to PNG or WebP for web delivery

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
TGA
Use TGA when…
  • Video Game 3D Textures and Materials
  • 3D Rendering and Animation Sequences
  • Legacy Video Production Workflows

More comparisons

Canon-CR2 vs ACES → TGA vs ACES → Canon-CR2 vs APNG → TGA vs APNG → Canon-CR2 vs AVCI → TGA vs AVCI → Canon-CR2 vs AVCS → TGA vs AVCS → Canon-CR2 vs AVIF → TGA vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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