Free webp to jpg
EN
Image MIME Reference
Compressed-XCF

Compressed GIMP XCF Image

image/x-compressed-xcf
VS

Silicon Graphics Image

image/x-rgb
SGI-RGB

A complete technical comparison of Compressed GIMP XCF Image and Silicon Graphics Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Compressed-XCF SGI-RGB
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
Compressed GIMP XCF Image
image/x-compressed-xcf
Extension
.xcf.gz.xcf.bz2.xcfgz.xcfbz2
Container Gzip or Bzip2 Archive
Compression Gzip (Deflate) / Bzip2
Algorithm
DeflateBWT (Burrows-Wheeler)
Color Depth 8-bit (Per Channel), 16-bit (Integer/Floating Point), 32-bit (Integer/Floating Point)
Developed by The GIMP Team
Released 1995
Magic Bytes
1F 8B 08 (gzip) or 42 5A 68 (bzip2)
Full Compressed-XCF 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 Compressed-XCF SGI-RGB
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
Compressed-XCF

Compressed-XCF Strengths

  • Drastically reduces the massive file sizes of standard XCF project files, saving significant disk space
  • Preserves 100% of the non-destructive editing data (layers, masks, paths, guides) from the GIMP workspace
  • Uses standard, universally supported compression algorithms (gzip/bzip2) meaning the archive can be rescued or extracted by standard OS tools if GIMP is unavailable
Limitations
  • Increases file load and save times due to the CPU overhead required to compress and decompress the massive pixel arrays
  • Impossible for automated tools to parse metadata or dimensions without first unarchiving the payload into memory
  • File extension combinations (.xcf.gz) can confuse basic MIME sniffers which stop reading at the .gz extension
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

Compressed-XCF
Use Compressed-XCF when…
  • GIMP Multi-layer Project Archival
  • Saving disk space for complex raster edits
  • Open-source graphic design workflows
SGI-RGB
Use SGI-RGB when…
  • Legacy 3D Animation and VFX Textures
  • Silicon Graphics IRIX Workstation Archival
  • 1990s Medical Imaging

More comparisons

Compressed-XCF vs ACES → SGI-RGB vs ACES → Compressed-XCF vs APNG → SGI-RGB vs APNG → Compressed-XCF vs AVCI → SGI-RGB vs AVCI → Compressed-XCF vs AVCS → SGI-RGB vs AVCS → Compressed-XCF vs AVIF → SGI-RGB vs AVIF → All comparisons →
Share this comparison