Image MIME Reference
DECE-Graphic
Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) Graphic
image/vnd.dece.graphic
VS
Epson Raw Format
image/x-epson-erf
Epson-ERF
A complete technical comparison of Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) Graphic and Epson Raw Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
Equal browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | DECE-Graphic | Epson-ERF |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | Yes | ✕ No |
| Animation Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | ✕ No | Yes |
| EXIF Metadata | ✕ No | Yes |
| ICC Color Profile | ✕ No | ✕ No |
Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) Graphic
image/vnd.dece.graphic
Extension
.jpg.png.uvi
Container
Standard JPEG/PNG within DECE CFF structures
Compression
Lossy (JPEG) / Lossless (PNG)
Algorithm
DCT (JPEG)DEFLATE (PNG)
Color Depth
8-bit (RGB), 24-bit (RGB)
Developed by
Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC
Released
2011
Magic Bytes
FF D8 FF (If JPEG) / 89 50 4E 47 (If PNG)
Epson Raw Format
image/x-epson-erf
Extension
.erf
Container
TIFF/EP
Compression
Uncompressed / Lossless JPEG (ITU-T81)
Algorithm
NoneLossless JPEG
Color Depth
12-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by
Seiko Epson Corporation
Released
2004
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00 or 4D 4D 00 2A
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | DECE-Graphic | Epson-ERF |
|---|---|---|
Chrome
|
✕ | ✕ |
Firefox
|
✕ | ✕ |
Safari
|
✕ | ✕ |
Edge
|
✕ | ✕ |
IE (Legacy)
|
✕ | ✕ |
DECE-Graphic
DECE-Graphic Strengths
- Allowed the UltraViolet DRM ecosystem to easily distinguish structural UI/cover graphic assets from actual encrypted video tracks in a Common File Format container
Limitations
- Completely obsolete since the 2019 shutdown of UltraViolet
- Unnecessary abstraction, as the underlying files were just standard JPEGs or PNGs
- Causes modern strict MIME-type validators to fail if they rely on the Content-Type header
Epson-ERF
Epson-ERF Strengths
- Preserves original raw sensor data, allowing extreme recovery of highlights and shadows compared to in-camera JPEGs
- Utilizes the standard TIFF container structure, making it relatively easy for open-source software (like dcraw and LibRaw) to parse and decode
Limitations
- Completely obsolete proprietary format tied to a defunct line of digital cameras
- Requires parsing EXIF metadata to differentiate it from standard TIFF files programmatically
- Cannot be natively viewed in web browsers or standard operating system image viewers without specialized codecs
When to choose which format
DECE-Graphic
Use DECE-Graphic when…
- UltraViolet Movie Cover Art
- Common File Format (CFF) Asset Manifests
- Legacy DRM Ecosystems
Epson-ERF
Use Epson-ERF when…
- Vintage Digital Photography (Epson R-D1)
- Non-destructive Image Post-Processing
- Raw Imaging Archival