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Image MIME Reference
FITS

Flexible Image Transport System

image/fits
VS

FlashPix

image/vnd.fpx
FPX

A complete technical comparison of Flexible Image Transport System and FlashPix — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature FITS FPX
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No Yes
ICC Color Profile ✕ No Yes
Flexible Image Transport System
image/fits
Extension
.fits.fit.fts
Container FITS
Compression Uncompressed / Tile Compressed (Rice, GZIP)
Algorithm
UncompressedRiceGZIPHcompress
Color Depth 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit (Float/Double)
Developed by IAU FITS Working Group / NASA
Released 1981
Magic Bytes
53 49 4D 50 4C 45 20 20 3D 20
Full FITS reference →
FlashPix
image/vnd.fpx
Extension
.fpx
Container Microsoft OLE Structured Storage (COM)
Compression JPEG (Lossy) / Uncompressed / Single-color (Solid)
Algorithm
JPEGNone
Color Depth 8-bit (Grayscale/Indexed), 24-bit (RGB), 32-bit (CMYK/RGBA)
Developed by Eastman Kodak, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Live Picture
Released 1996
Magic Bytes
D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1
Full FPX reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser FITS FPX
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
FITS

FITS Strengths

  • The undisputed global standard for archiving and sharing astronomical data
  • Self-documenting: Headers are written in plain ASCII, ensuring data is readable decades later regardless of software
  • Supports incredibly high dynamic range, N-dimensional arrays, and complex binary tables
Limitations
  • No support in standard consumer software or web browsers
  • Uncompressed raw FITS files from modern telescopes can be excessively large
  • Does not use standard metadata models like EXIF or XMP, requiring specialized parsers
FPX

FPX Strengths

  • Allowed early, low-RAM computers to view and edit massive, high-resolution digital photos instantly by only loading the needed tiles and resolutions
  • Pioneered the multi-resolution pyramid and tiling concepts heavily used today in modern deep-zoom and web mapping applications (like Google Maps)
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported by modern web browsers or operating systems
  • Uses the complex, proprietary Microsoft OLE container format, making it incredibly difficult to parse or extract data from without dedicated legacy libraries
  • Prone to being misidentified by MIME sniffers as an old Microsoft Office document

When to choose which format

FITS
Use FITS when…
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • Space Telescope Data (Hubble, JWST)
  • Scientific Data Archiving
  • Spectroscopy
FPX
Use FPX when…
  • Legacy Digital Photography
  • Kodak Picture CDs (Historical)
  • Early High-Resolution Image Viewers

More comparisons

FITS vs ACES → FPX vs ACES → FITS vs APNG → FPX vs APNG → FITS vs AVCI → FPX vs AVCI → FITS vs AVCS → FPX vs AVCS → FITS vs AVIF → FPX vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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