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Image MIME Reference
Epson-ERF

Epson Raw Format

image/x-epson-erf
VS

Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)

image/x-tga
TGA

A complete technical comparison of Epson Raw Format 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 Epson-ERF TGA
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
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
Full Epson-ERF 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 Epson-ERF TGA
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
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
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

Epson-ERF
Use Epson-ERF when…
  • Vintage Digital Photography (Epson R-D1)
  • Non-destructive Image Post-Processing
  • Raw Imaging Archival
TGA
Use TGA when…
  • Video Game 3D Textures and Materials
  • 3D Rendering and Animation Sequences
  • Legacy Video Production Workflows

More comparisons

Epson-ERF vs ACES → TGA vs ACES → Epson-ERF vs APNG → TGA vs APNG → Epson-ERF vs AVCI → TGA vs AVCI → Epson-ERF vs AVCS → TGA vs AVCS → Epson-ERF vs AVIF → TGA vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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