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Image MIME Reference
JPEG-XR

JPEG XR (HD Photo)

image/vnd.ms-photo
VS

Valve Texture Format

image/vnd.valve.source.texture
VTF

A complete technical comparison of JPEG XR (HD Photo) and Valve Texture Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature JPEG-XR VTF
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading Yes ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
JPEG XR (HD Photo)
image/vnd.ms-photo
Extension
.jxr.wdp.hdp
Container TIFF-like Image File Directory (IFD)
Compression Lossy (Lapped Bi-orthogonal Transform) / Lossless
Algorithm
Lapped Bi-orthogonal Transform (LBT)
Color Depth 8-bit (Grayscale, RGB, CMYK), 16-bit, 32-bit Floating Point (HDR)
Developed by Microsoft Corporation (later Joint Photographic Experts Group)
Released 2006
Magic Bytes
49 49 BC 01
Full JPEG-XR reference →
Valve Texture Format
image/vnd.valve.source.texture
Extension
.vtf
Container Valve Texture Format Header
Compression DXTC (DXT1, DXT3, DXT5) / Uncompressed (BGRA8888, RGB888, etc.)
Algorithm
DXT1-DXT5None
Color Depth 8-bit, 24-bit (RGB), 32-bit (RGBA), 16-bit Floating Point (HDR)
Developed by Valve Corporation
Released 2004
Magic Bytes
56 54 46 00
Full VTF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser JPEG-XR VTF
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✓
 ✕
JPEG-XR

JPEG-XR Strengths

  • Excellent support for 16-bit and 32-bit floating-point HDR images without massive file size bloat
  • Native support for alpha transparency, which standard JPEG fundamentally lacks
  • Computational complexity for decoding/encoding is relatively low, making it hardware-friendly
Limitations
  • Suffered a complete failure of adoption in the web browser market outside of Microsoft's ecosystem
  • Fully superseded by modern, open formats like WebP, AVIF, and JPEG XL which offer better compression and universal browser support
  • Multiple file extensions (.wdp, .hdp, .jxr) and MIME types cause confusion and parsing fragmentation
VTF

VTF Strengths

  • Extremely fast loading within the Source Engine because the block-compressed data goes directly into the GPU's VRAM without CPU decompression overhead
  • Bundles mipmaps, volumetric slices, cubemap faces, and animation frames entirely within a single file
  • Openly documented by the Valve Developer Community, leading to a massive ecosystem of third-party modding tools
Limitations
  • Strictly tied to the Source Engine ecosystem; entirely useless in standard web or print contexts
  • No native support in standard image editors without hunting down and installing specialized plugins
  • Block compression algorithms (DXT) are lossy and can cause visible artifacting, especially on normal maps or smooth gradients

When to choose which format

JPEG-XR
Use JPEG-XR when…
  • Legacy Windows Desktop Backgrounds
  • XPS (XML Paper Specification) Documents
  • Early High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography
  • DirectX Textures
VTF
Use VTF when…
  • Source Engine Game Textures
  • Custom Maps and Modding (Garry's Mod, CS:GO)
  • Animated In-Game Decals and Sprays
  • Environment Cubemaps (Skyboxes)

More comparisons

JPEG-XR vs ACES → VTF vs ACES → JPEG-XR vs APNG → VTF vs APNG → JPEG-XR vs AVCI → VTF vs AVCI → JPEG-XR vs AVCS → VTF vs AVCS → JPEG-XR vs AVIF → VTF vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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