Image MIME Reference
Sealed-PNG
SealedMedia Portable Network Graphics
image/vnd.sealed.png
VS
Scalable Vector Graphics
image/svg+xml
SVG
A complete technical comparison of SealedMedia Portable Network Graphics and Scalable Vector Graphics — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
SVG wins on browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | Sealed-PNG | SVG |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | ✕ No | Yes |
| Animation Support | ✕ No | Yes |
| Progressive Loading | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | ✕ No | Yes |
| EXIF Metadata | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| ICC Color Profile | ✕ No | ✕ No |
SealedMedia Portable Network Graphics
image/vnd.sealed.png
Extension
.spng.sealed-png
Container
SealedMedia / Oracle IRM Wrapper
Compression
Encrypted Payload (Deflate)
Algorithm
AES EncryptionDeflate (Internal PNG payload)
Color Depth
Encrypted Payload
Developed by
SealedMedia (Acquired by Oracle Corporation)
Released
Late 1990s / Early 2000s
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary SealedMedia Container)
Scalable Vector Graphics
image/svg+xml
Extension
.svg.svgz
Container
XML Document
Compression
Uncompressed (Plain Text XML) / Lossless (GZIP via .svgz)
Algorithm
None (for .svg)GZIP (for .svgz)
Color Depth
Vector (Independent of bit-depth), CSS Colors (HEX, RGB, HSL, Display-P3)
Developed by
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
Released
2001
Magic Bytes
3C 73 76 67 (for <svg) / 3C 3F 78 6D 6C (for <?xml)
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | Sealed-PNG | SVG |
|---|---|---|
|
|
✕ |
✓ All
|
|
|
✕ |
✓ All
|
|
|
✕ |
✓ All
|
|
|
✕ |
✓ All
|
|
|
✕ |
✓
|
Sealed-PNG
Sealed-PNG Strengths
- Provided absolute control over intellectual property, allowing enterprise administrators to instantly revoke viewing rights of a local file globally
- Detailed audit trails tracked exactly who opened the image, when, and from what IP address
Limitations
- Completely proprietary and relies on a central authentication server; if the server goes offline, the image is permanently inaccessible
- No support in modern operating systems, web browsers, or standard image editing software without installing heavy enterprise DRM clients
- Oracle effectively deprecated the IRM product line, leaving legacy sealed documents difficult to recover
SVG
SVG Strengths
- Provides infinite resolution scalability, looking perfectly crisp on high-DPI (Retina) displays without increasing file size
- Extremely lightweight compared to raster formats for flat graphics, logos, and UI elements
- Can be manipulated dynamically via the browser's CSS and JavaScript engines (DOM integration)
Limitations
- Unsuitable for complex photographic images or photorealistic textures
- Poses critical security vulnerabilities (XSS and XML External Entity attacks) if user-uploaded SVGs are not heavily sanitized
- Rendering performance degrades significantly if the SVG contains tens of thousands of complex nodes or deeply nested paths
When to choose which format
Sealed-PNG
Use Sealed-PNG when…
- Enterprise Information Rights Management (IRM)
- Secure Corporate Intellectual Property Distribution
- Revocable Medical or Legal Imaging
SVG
Use SVG when…
- Web Logos & UI Icons
- Responsive Web Design Elements
- Interactive Data Visualizations (D3.js)
- CSS and SMIL Web Animations