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Image MIME Reference
Kodak-DCR

Kodak Digital Camera Raw

image/x-kodak-dcr
VS

Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)

image/x-tga
TGA

A complete technical comparison of Kodak Digital Camera Raw 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 Kodak-DCR TGA
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
Kodak Digital Camera Raw
image/x-kodak-dcr
Extension
.dcr
Container TIFF/EP
Compression Uncompressed / Lossless JPEG
Algorithm
NoneLossless JPEG (ITU-T81)
Color Depth 12-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Eastman Kodak Company
Released 1998
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00 or 4D 4D 00 2A
Full Kodak-DCR 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 Kodak-DCR TGA
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
Kodak-DCR

Kodak-DCR Strengths

  • Preserves the full dynamic range and uncompressed raw sensor data captured by foundational professional digital cameras
  • Utilizes the standard TIFF container structure, ensuring that open-source decoders like LibRaw can easily parse and interpret the files long after official vendor support has ended
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete proprietary format tied to camera hardware that is no longer manufactured
  • Shares the TIFF magic header, leading to widespread misidentification by automated MIME detection libraries
  • Cannot be natively viewed in web browsers or standard operating system image viewers without specialized codecs
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

Kodak-DCR
Use Kodak-DCR when…
  • Vintage Professional Digital Photography (Kodak DCS series)
  • Non-destructive Image Post-Processing
  • Raw Imaging Archival
TGA
Use TGA when…
  • Video Game 3D Textures and Materials
  • 3D Rendering and Animation Sequences
  • Legacy Video Production Workflows

More comparisons

Kodak-DCR vs ACES → TGA vs ACES → Kodak-DCR vs APNG → TGA vs APNG → Kodak-DCR vs AVCI → TGA vs AVCI → Kodak-DCR vs AVCS → TGA vs AVCS → Kodak-DCR vs AVIF → TGA vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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