Image MIME Reference
FPX
FlashPix
image/vnd.fpx
VS
PTI Image (Personal/Vanity Tree)
image/prs.pti
PTI
A complete technical comparison of FlashPix and PTI Image (Personal/Vanity Tree) — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
Equal browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | FPX | PTI |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | Yes | ✕ No |
| Animation Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| EXIF Metadata | Yes | ✕ No |
| ICC Color Profile | Yes | ✕ No |
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
PTI Image (Personal/Vanity Tree)
image/prs.pti
Extension
.pti
Container
Proprietary
Compression
Unknown / Proprietary
Algorithm
Unknown
Color Depth
Unknown
Developed by
Jürn Laun
Released
1999
Magic Bytes
Unknown
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | FPX | PTI |
|---|---|---|
Chrome
|
✕ | ✕ |
Firefox
|
✕ | ✕ |
Safari
|
✕ | ✕ |
Edge
|
✕ | ✕ |
IE (Legacy)
|
✕ | ✕ |
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
PTI
PTI Strengths
- Provided a registered MIME type namespace for a specific application's proprietary image format without conflicting with standard web types
Limitations
- Completely undocumented and unsupported in modern ecosystems
- Zero web browser compatibility
- Falls into the 'vanity' tree, making it irrelevant for standard cross-platform data exchange
When to choose which format
FPX
Use FPX when…
- Legacy Digital Photography
- Kodak Picture CDs (Historical)
- Early High-Resolution Image Viewers
PTI
Use PTI when…
- Legacy Application Specific Workflows
- Proprietary Image Storage