Image MIME Reference
HEIF
High Efficiency Image File Format
image/heif
VS
JPEG 2000 Core Image File
image/jp2
JPEG-2000
A complete technical comparison of High Efficiency Image File Format and JPEG 2000 Core Image File — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
JPEG-2000 wins on browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | HEIF | JPEG-2000 |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | Yes | Yes |
| Animation Support | Yes | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | ✕ No | Yes |
| HDR Support | Yes | Yes |
| EXIF Metadata | Yes | Yes |
| ICC Color Profile | Yes | Yes |
High Efficiency Image File Format
image/heif
Extension
.heif.hif
Container
HEIF / ISOBMFF (ISO/IEC 14496-12)
Compression
Lossy / Lossless
Algorithm
Codec Agnostic (HEVC, AVC, JPEG, AV1)
Color Depth
8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, 16-bit
Developed by
Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
Released
2015
Magic Bytes
XX XX XX XX 66 74 79 70 6D 69 66 31
JPEG 2000 Core Image File
image/jp2
Extension
.jp2.j2k.jpf.jpx.jpm
Container
JP2 (ISO/IEC 15444-1)
Compression
Lossy / Lossless
Algorithm
Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT)
Color Depth
8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 38-bit
Developed by
Joint Photographic Experts Group
Released
2000
Magic Bytes
00 00 00 0C 6A 50 20 20 0D 0A 87 0A
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | HEIF | JPEG-2000 |
|---|---|---|
Chrome
|
✕ | ✕ |
Firefox
|
✕ | ✕ |
Safari
|
✕ |
✓ 5+
|
Edge
|
✕ | ✕ |
IE (Legacy)
|
✕ | ✕ |
HEIF
HEIF Strengths
- Highly flexible container that can store image bursts, animations, focal stacks, and stereo 3D images in one file
- Natively supports depth maps and alpha channels, making it perfect for computational photography
- When paired with modern codecs like HEVC or AV1, it provides massive storage savings over legacy formats like JPEG
Limitations
- Codec agnosticism makes broad software decoding difficult, as the container might hold proprietary or unsupported codecs
- Zero cross-platform web browser support, requiring conversion for online publishing
- Often confused with the more specific 'image/heic' and 'image/avif' MIME types
JPEG-2000
JPEG-2000 Strengths
- Superior compression efficiency over baseline JPEG without introducing blocking artifacts
- True mathematically lossless compression available in the same format
- Extremely scalable: a single file can be decoded at various resolutions (thumbnails to full size) without loading the entire file
Limitations
- Very poor native web browser support prevents it from being a web standard
- High computational complexity makes encoding and decoding significantly slower than JPEG
- Early patent concerns and complex licensing hindered its initial adoption rate
When to choose which format
HEIF
Use HEIF when…
- Digital Photography
- Camera Capture
- Image Archiving
- Multi-image composites
JPEG-2000
Use JPEG-2000 when…
- Digital Cinema (DCP)
- Medical Imaging (DICOM)
- Geospatial Data
- Archival Preservation