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Image MIME Reference
SVF

Simple Vector Format

image/vnd.svf
VS

Truevision TGA (Legacy MIME Alias)

image/x-tga
TGA

A complete technical comparison of Simple Vector Format 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 SVF TGA
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
Simple Vector Format
image/vnd.svf
Extension
.svf
Container Custom Binary/Text (Legacy) or ZIP (Autodesk Forge)
Compression Uncompressed / Deflate (in modern Autodesk SVF implementations)
Algorithm
None
Color Depth Vector Data (Not Applicable)
Developed by SoftSource & NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications)
Released 1995
Magic Bytes
Unknown (SoftSource SVF)
Full SVF 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 SVF TGA
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
SVF

SVF Strengths

  • Acted as a crucial pioneering stepping-stone in proving that scalable, zoomable vector graphics were viable and necessary for the World Wide Web
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported by modern web standards
  • Required end-users to install bulky, proprietary browser plugins
  • Causes significant developer confusion today due to Autodesk adopting the exact same acronym and file extension for a completely different technology
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

SVF
Use SVF when…
  • Historical Web-based CAD Viewers (1990s)
  • Legacy 2D Vector Archival
  • Autodesk Platform Services (Forge) Model Translation (Name Collision)
TGA
Use TGA when…
  • Video Game 3D Textures and Materials
  • 3D Rendering and Animation Sequences
  • Legacy Video Production Workflows

More comparisons

SVF vs ACES → TGA vs ACES → SVF vs APNG → TGA vs APNG → SVF vs AVCI → TGA vs AVCI → SVF vs AVCS → TGA vs AVCS → SVF vs AVIF → TGA vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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