Image MIME Reference
KTX
Khronos Texture
image/ktx
VS
AutoCAD Slide
image/vnd.sld
SLD
A complete technical comparison of Khronos Texture and AutoCAD Slide — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
Equal browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | KTX | SLD |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | Yes | ✕ No |
| Animation Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | Yes | ✕ No |
| EXIF Metadata | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| ICC Color Profile | ✕ No | ✕ No |
Khronos Texture
image/ktx
Extension
.ktx
Container
KTX (Khronos Texture 1.1)
Compression
Uncompressed / GPU Compressed (ASTC, ETC, BCn, PVRTC)
Algorithm
ASTCETC1 / ETC2BCn (DXT)PVRTCBasis Universal (in KTX2)
Color Depth
8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit (Integer/Float)
Developed by
Khronos Group
Released
2010
Magic Bytes
AB 4B 54 58 20 31 31 BB 0D 0A 1A 0A
AutoCAD Slide
image/vnd.sld
Extension
.sld
Container
AutoCAD Slide Container
Compression
Uncompressed (Vector Instructions)
Algorithm
None
Color Depth
8-bit (AutoCAD Indexed Color)
Developed by
Autodesk, Inc.
Released
1980s
Magic Bytes
41 75 74 6F 43 41 44 20 53 6C 69 64 65 0D 0A 1A 00
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | KTX | SLD |
|---|---|---|
Chrome
|
✕ | ✕ |
Firefox
|
✕ | ✕ |
Safari
|
✕ | ✕ |
Edge
|
✕ | ✕ |
IE (Legacy)
|
✕ | ✕ |
KTX
KTX Strengths
- Enables direct-to-GPU texture uploading, drastically reducing load times and CPU overhead in 3D applications
- Supports complex texture types natively (mipmaps, cubemaps, 3D volumes, texture arrays)
- Standardized across major Khronos APIs (OpenGL, Vulkan, WebGL) unlike vendor-specific formats like DDS
Limitations
- Requires custom JavaScript loaders to parse and display on the web
- Zero native support in consumer image viewers or 2D photo editing software
- Format fragmentation: a KTX file containing an ASTC payload will fail to render on hardware that only supports BCn compression (KTX2 and Basis Universal solve this)
SLD
SLD Strengths
- Allowed for instantaneous loading of highly complex architectural and engineering blueprints on low-memory MS-DOS systems
- Easy-to-parse binary structure containing simple opcodes for drawing vectors and polygons
Limitations
- Completely obsolete and heavily fragmented, largely replaced by PDF and lightweight web-based DXF viewers
- Destructive 'snapshot' format irrevocably strips all useful, editable CAD geometry data from the original drawing
- Zero support in web browsers or standard image processing libraries
When to choose which format
KTX
Use KTX when…
- Real-time 3D Graphics
- WebGL / WebGPU Applications
- Mobile Games
- Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
SLD
Use SLD when…
- Legacy AutoCAD Slideshows
- AutoCAD Custom Icon Menus
- Historical CAD Archival