Free webp to jpg
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Image MIME Reference
Epson-ERF

Epson Raw Format

image/x-epson-erf
VS

Wireless Bitmap

image/vnd.wap.wbmp
WBMP

A complete technical comparison of Epson Raw Format and Wireless Bitmap — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Epson-ERF WBMP
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No ✕ No
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 →
Wireless Bitmap
image/vnd.wap.wbmp
Extension
.wbmp
Container WBMP Type 0
Compression Uncompressed
Algorithm
None
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome)
Developed by WAP Forum (Now Open Mobile Alliance)
Released 1999
Magic Bytes
00 00
Full WBMP reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Epson-ERF WBMP
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
WBMP

WBMP Strengths

  • Extremely low processing overhead made it perfectly suited for the ultra-low-power CPUs of late 1990s mobile devices
  • Tightly integrated into the WML (Wireless Markup Language) stack, enabling the first functional mobile internet experiences
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and lacks support in modern operating systems and browsers
  • Limited entirely to 1-bit black and white (0 for black, 1 for white) with zero support for grayscale, color, or transparency
  • The lack of a strong file header signature makes automated MIME type detection highly unreliable

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
WBMP
Use WBMP when…
  • Legacy WML (Wireless Markup Language) Mobile Sites
  • Early Mobile Phone Icons and Operator Logos
  • Historical WAP Archival

More comparisons

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