Image MIME Reference
APNG
Animated Portable Network Graphics
image/vnd.mozilla.apng
VS
FastBid Sheet
image/vnd.fastbidsheet
FastBid
A complete technical comparison of Animated Portable Network Graphics and FastBid Sheet — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
APNG wins on browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | APNG | FastBid |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | Yes | ✕ No |
| Animation Support | Yes | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | Yes | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| EXIF Metadata | Yes | ✕ No |
| ICC Color Profile | Yes | ✕ No |
Animated Portable Network Graphics
image/vnd.mozilla.apng
Extension
.apng.png
Container
PNG Chunk Stream
Compression
Deflate (Lossless)
Algorithm
Deflate (zlib)
Color Depth
8-bit (Indexed), 24-bit (TrueColor), 32-bit (RGBA)
Developed by
Mozilla Corporation (Stuart Parmenter & Vladimir Vukićević)
Released
2004
Magic Bytes
89 50 4E 47 0D 0A 1A 0A
FastBid Sheet
image/vnd.fastbidsheet
Extension
.fbs
Container
Proprietary FastBid Container
Compression
Proprietary
Algorithm
Unknown
Color Depth
Unknown
Developed by
FastBid, Inc. (Scott Becker)
Released
Late 1990s
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary)
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | APNG | FastBid |
|---|---|---|
|
|
✓ 59
|
✕ |
|
|
✓ 3
|
✕ |
|
|
✓ 8
|
✕ |
|
|
✓ 79
|
✕ |
|
|
✕ | ✕ |
APNG
APNG Strengths
- Supports 8-bit alpha transparency, completely solving the ugly 'white halo' problem inherent to GIFs
- Gracefully degrades; viewers that do not support APNG will render a perfectly valid, static PNG of the first frame
- Provides lossless compression that retains absolute pixel-perfect quality for UI elements and line art
Limitations
- Because it relies on lossless Deflate compression, file sizes for complex, video-like animations can be massive compared to lossy formats like WebP or AVIF
- Was initially rejected by the official PNG group, delaying its adoption for nearly a decade
- Lacks native hardware decoding acceleration, unlike video-based animated formats (like MP4 or WebM)
FastBid
FastBid Strengths
- Historically allowed the FastBid application to securely associate and load proprietary construction plans within its ecosystem
Limitations
- Completely obsolete and unsupported in modern software environments
- The official IANA registration of the .fbs extension causes widespread false positives, breaking modern parsers, text editors, and AI SDKs attempting to read FlatBuffers schemas
When to choose which format
APNG
Use APNG when…
- High-Quality Web Animations
- Stickers (Apple iMessage, LINE, Discord)
- UI Loaders with Alpha Transparency
- GIF Replacement
FastBid
Use FastBid when…
- Legacy Construction Blueprints
- FastBid Estimating Software
- Causing .fbs MIME Type Conflicts (FlatBuffers)