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Image MIME Reference
JPEG-XS-(HEIF)

JPEG XS Image (HEIF Container)

image/jxsi
VS

Sony Alpha Raw Image

image/x-sony-arw
Sony-ARW

A complete technical comparison of JPEG XS Image (HEIF Container) and Sony Alpha Raw Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature JPEG-XS-(HEIF) Sony-ARW
Transparency (Alpha) Yes ✕ No
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
JPEG XS Image (HEIF Container)
image/jxsi
Extension
.jxsi.jxs.hif
Container HEIF / ISOBMFF (ISO/IEC 23008-12)
Compression Lossy (Visually Lossless) / Mathematically Lossless
Algorithm
JPEG XS (ISO/IEC 21122-1)
Color Depth 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, 14-bit, 16-bit
Developed by Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
Released 2019
Magic Bytes
XX XX XX XX 66 74 79 70 6A 78 73 69
Full JPEG-XS-(HEIF) reference →
Sony Alpha Raw Image
image/x-sony-arw
Extension
.arw
Container TIFF-based (Proprietary)
Compression Uncompressed / Lossless Compressed / Lossy Compressed
Algorithm
NoneSony Proprietary LosslessSony Proprietary Lossy
Color Depth 12-bit (Per Channel), 14-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Sony Corporation
Released 2006
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00
Full Sony-ARW reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser JPEG-XS-(HEIF) Sony-ARW
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
JPEG-XS-(HEIF)

JPEG-XS-(HEIF) Strengths

  • Provides sub-millisecond encoding and decoding latency while retaining visually lossless quality
  • Brings the extensive metadata, EXIF, XMP, and color-profiling capabilities of the HEIF container to JPEG XS
  • Allows grouping of multiple high-quality JPEG XS frames into a single collection file
Limitations
  • Zero web browser compatibility, limiting it entirely to professional and industrial hardware workflows
  • Extremely niche adoption compared to standard HEVC-based HEIC or raw JPEG XS codestreams
  • Requires custom parsing logic to extract the JPEG XS codestream from the HEIF boxes
Sony-ARW

Sony-ARW Strengths

  • Retains absolute maximum sensor data, enabling massive shadow recovery and highlight protection compared to compressed in-camera JPEGs
  • Embeds high-quality JPEG previews and robust metadata, allowing photographers to match in-camera color science (like Creative Looks) perfectly during raw processing
  • Utilizes the standard TIFF container structure, ensuring broad compatibility with open-source decoding libraries (like LibRaw)
Limitations
  • Proprietary format means it requires constant updates to raw processing engines every time Sony releases a new camera model
  • Sony's historically controversial lossy compression algorithm (often called 'star eater' due to spatial filtering artifacts) was a drawback for astrophotography in older ARW versions, though largely resolved in newer models with uncompressed/lossless options
  • Cannot be directly embedded into web pages or used in standard HTML/CSS contexts

When to choose which format

JPEG-XS-(HEIF)
Use JPEG-XS-(HEIF) when…
  • Live Broadcast Infrastructure
  • Medical Imaging & Archival
  • Video over IP Networks
  • Automotive & Drone Systems
Sony-ARW
Use Sony-ARW when…
  • Professional Digital Photography
  • Non-destructive Image Post-Processing
  • High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging Archival

More comparisons

JPEG-XS-(HEIF) vs ACES → Sony-ARW vs ACES → JPEG-XS-(HEIF) vs APNG → Sony-ARW vs APNG → JPEG-XS-(HEIF) vs AVCI → Sony-ARW vs AVCI → JPEG-XS-(HEIF) vs AVCS → Sony-ARW vs AVCS → JPEG-XS-(HEIF) vs AVIF → Sony-ARW vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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