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Image MIME Reference
Kodak-K25

Kodak K25 Raw Image

image/x-kodak-k25
VS

Valve Texture Format

image/vnd.valve.source.texture
VTF

A complete technical comparison of Kodak K25 Raw Image and Valve Texture Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Kodak-K25 VTF
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
Kodak K25 Raw Image
image/x-kodak-k25
Extension
.k25
Container Proprietary Kodak Raw (TIFF-based variant)
Compression Uncompressed / Proprietary Lossless
Algorithm
Proprietary Kodak Compression
Color Depth 10-bit, 12-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Eastman Kodak Company
Released 1996
Magic Bytes
Varies (Often resembles TIFF header 49 49 2A 00 or requires proprietary parsing)
Full Kodak-K25 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 Kodak-K25 VTF
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
Kodak-K25

Kodak-K25 Strengths

  • Historically significant format tied to the first digital camera to adopt CompactFlash memory
  • Preserves original raw sensor data, allowing modern demosaicing algorithms (via LibRaw) to extract much better image quality than 1996-era software could
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and deeply proprietary, lacking modern raw format features found in DNG
  • Cannot be natively viewed in web browsers or standard operating system image viewers without specialized decoders
  • Subject to misidentification by automated MIME detection libraries due to structural similarities with standard TIFFs
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

Kodak-K25
Use Kodak-K25 when…
  • Vintage Digital Photography Archival
  • Kodak DC25 Camera Restorations
  • Historical Imaging Research
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

Kodak-K25 vs ACES → VTF vs ACES → Kodak-K25 vs APNG → VTF vs APNG → Kodak-K25 vs AVCI → VTF vs AVCI → Kodak-K25 vs AVCS → VTF vs AVCS → Kodak-K25 vs AVIF → VTF vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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