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Image MIME Reference
Kodak-KDC

Kodak KDC Raw Image

image/x-kodak-kdc
VS

Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)

image/x-tga
TGA

A complete technical comparison of Kodak KDC Raw Image 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-KDC 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 KDC Raw Image
image/x-kodak-kdc
Extension
.kdc
Container TIFF/EP
Compression Uncompressed / Proprietary Lossless
Algorithm
NoneLossless JPEG (ITU-T81)Proprietary Kodak Compression
Color Depth 10-bit, 12-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Eastman Kodak Company
Released 1995
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00 or 4D 4D 00 2A
Full Kodak-KDC 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-KDC TGA
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
Kodak-KDC

Kodak-KDC Strengths

  • Preserves original raw sensor data, allowing modern demosaicing software to extract significantly more detail and dynamic range than the camera's built-in JPEG engine could at the time
  • Utilizes the standard TIFF container structure, ensuring broad compatibility with open-source decoding libraries (like LibRaw)
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete proprietary format tied to a defunct line of consumer digital cameras
  • Subject to widespread misidentification by automated MIME detection libraries due to structural similarities with standard TIFFs
  • Cannot be natively viewed in web browsers or standard operating system image viewers without specialized decoders
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-KDC
Use Kodak-KDC when…
  • Vintage Digital Photography Archival
  • Kodak DC and EasyShare P-Series Raw Post-Processing
  • Historical Imaging Research
TGA
Use TGA when…
  • Video Game 3D Textures and Materials
  • 3D Rendering and Animation Sequences
  • Legacy Video Production Workflows

More comparisons

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