Free webp to jpg
EN
Image MIME Reference
FST-Image

FAST Search & Transfer Image

image/vnd.fst
VS

Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)

image/x-tga
TGA

A complete technical comparison of FAST Search & Transfer Image 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 FST-Image TGA
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
FAST Search & Transfer Image
image/vnd.fst
Extension
.fst
Container Proprietary FAST Container
Compression Proprietary
Algorithm
Unknown (Proprietary FAST encoding)
Color Depth Unknown
Developed by FAST Search & Transfer ASA (Arild Fuldseth)
Released 2000
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary)
Full FST-Image 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 FST-Image TGA
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
FST-Image

FST-Image Strengths

  • Historically served as an optimized, compressed format for FAST's early multimedia and live streaming engines over constrained late-1990s bandwidth
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and non-functional in modern software ecosystems
  • Undocumented, closed-source binary structure with zero support in modern image processing libraries
  • Shares its file extension with several other distinct file types (such as FL Studio state files or FAST Search dictionaries), leading to easy misidentification
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

FST-Image
Use FST-Image when…
  • Historical FAST Enterprise Search Indexing
  • Legacy Proprietary Multimedia Streaming (late 1990s)
  • Internal Media Transmission
TGA
Use TGA when…
  • Video Game 3D Textures and Materials
  • 3D Rendering and Animation Sequences
  • Legacy Video Production Workflows

More comparisons

FST-Image vs ACES → TGA vs ACES → FST-Image vs APNG → TGA vs APNG → FST-Image vs AVCI → TGA vs AVCI → FST-Image vs AVCS → TGA vs AVCS → FST-Image vs AVIF → TGA vs AVIF → All comparisons →
Share this comparison