Image MIME Reference
Kodak-K25
Kodak K25 Raw Image
image/x-kodak-k25
VS
X Window Dump (Legacy MIME Alias)
image/x-xwindowdump
XWD
A complete technical comparison of Kodak K25 Raw Image and X Window Dump (Legacy MIME Alias) — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
Equal browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | Kodak-K25 | XWD |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | ✕ No | Yes |
| Animation Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | Yes | ✕ No |
| 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)
X Window Dump (Legacy MIME Alias)
image/x-xwindowdump
Extension
.xwd.wd
Container
XWDHeader / XWDFileHeader Structure
Compression
Uncompressed
Algorithm
None
Color Depth
8-bit (Indexed), 16-bit (High Color), 24-bit (True Color), 32-bit (True Color with Alpha/Padding)
Developed by
MIT / X Consortium (X Window System)
Released
1987
Magic Bytes
00 00 00 64 (Typically indicates a 100-byte header size followed by version)
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | Kodak-K25 | XWD |
|---|---|---|
Chrome
|
✕ | ✕ |
Firefox
|
✕ | ✕ |
Safari
|
✕ | ✕ |
Edge
|
✕ | ✕ |
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
XWD
XWD Strengths
- Provides an exact, raw pixel dump directly from the X11 display server memory without compression overhead
- Extremely fast for Unix environments to generate during low-level graphical debugging
Limitations
- Completely uncompressed, resulting in large, bloated file sizes
- Zero support in web browsers or modern desktop environments without specialized graphics translation tools
- Verbose legacy MIME strings like 'image/x-xwindowdump' require backend normalization in modern applications
When to choose which format
Kodak-K25
Use Kodak-K25 when…
- Vintage Digital Photography Archival
- Kodak DC25 Camera Restorations
- Historical Imaging Research
XWD
Use XWD when…
- X Window System (X11) Display Debugging and Screenshots
- Legacy Unix/Linux System Administration