10 forgotten image file formats such as 'BMP' and 'PCX'

There are many formats for image files, including familiar formats such as 'JPG', 'PNG', and 'GIF', as well as new formats such as 'WebP ', ' AVIF ', and ' HEIF ' that appeared in the 2010s. Meanwhile, technology-related writer Arnie Smith explains '10 forgotten image file formats.'

10 Image File Formats That Didn't Make It
https://tedium.co/2021/11/10/10-forgotten-image-formats/

◆ 01: North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS)
NAPLPS is an image file format developed as part of an effort to build a way to quickly transmit graphic images, and began to be used in the 1980s, mainly in the Canadian broadcasting industry. According to Smith, NAPLPS was adopted by IBM's portal service 'Prodigy ' and was used until the 1990s.

The following movies use images saved in NAPLPS format.

Rare Cable Channel: Genesis StoryTime-YouTube


◆ 02: BSAVE graphics
BSAVE graphics is an image file format used in the paint application ' PCPaint' installed in IBM PCs. 'BSAVE graphics are noteworthy in the history of drawing programs, as they were used in PC Paint, the first drawing program for IBM PCs with a mouse and graphical interface,' Smith said. ..

◆ 03: PCX
PCX is an image file format available in the Paint app included in Windows 3.x. Since this PCX was also adopted in the paint application 'PC Paintbrush' for IBM PC compatibles before the appearance of Windows 3.x, it was a de facto industry standard format before the appearance of image file formats such as JPEG and GIF. It is.

◆ 04: TIFF
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is an image file format developed by Microsoft and Aldus in 1986. Smith points out that TIFF became popular as an 'image file format that can be used on both Macs and PCs' during the prevalence of scanners. 'TIFF is the most widely used image file format at the time of article creation among the 10 image file formats introduced this time, but it is a general image file such as JPG,' Smith said. It is treated as more specialized than the format. '

In fact, Photoshop allows you to save in TIFF format while preserving the layer structure. In the following movie, the advantages of TIFF in Photoshop are talked about from the viewpoint of 'portability', 'file size', and 'thumbnail display'.

Tiff Vs Psd | 3 reasons why you need to save your file in a tiff file format --YouTube


◆ 05: ILBM
ILBM is an image file format that saves images using the general-purpose file format ' Interchange File Format ' developed for the computer ' Amiga' developed by Comodor. ILBM is said to have been developed exclusively with the Amiga chipset, and as of 1996, it was said to be 'one of the widely used image file formats'.

◆ 06: Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (TARGA)
The ILBM above is an image file format optimized for Amiga, while TARGA is an image file format created as a by-product of developing graphics hardware for IBM PCs. Then, TARGA has been adopted to Microsoft and Apple made of the OS, even in such as the client application of game sales platform 'Steam' in the article created when adopted have been.

◆ 07: Remote Imaging Protocol (RIP)
RIP became popular as an image file format with a small file size in the era when the line speed was slow. Smith says RIP has demonstrated creativity in a variety of areas. However, RIP cannot keep up with the wave of progress on the Internet and is an image file format that is rarely used at the time of article creation.

◆ 08: BMP
BMP is an image file format adopted by the Windows 3.x Paint app along with the PCX mentioned above. Since BMP had problems such as 'the focus is not on compression and the file size becomes large' and 'the specifications differ between Windows and OS / 2 ', it was 'developed so far' from the beginning. It was rated as 'the worst of all bitmap image file formats'.

Even at the time of writing the article, Microsoft's BMP commentary page stated that 'BMP files are usually not compressed and are not suitable for transfer over the Internet', emphasizing the size of the file size. I am.

◆ 09: Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
In recent years, the topic of Metaverse has been booming. According to Smith, VRML is the first image file format developed for the Metaverse. The 'Web3D Consortium ' that promotes the development of this VRML is still active, and Mr. Smith also said, 'It is a fact that VRML lost to Flash, but it is drawn by a company (Meta) called Facebook. Looking to the future, VRML could regain attention. '

◆ 10: Wireless Application Protocol Bitmap Format
The Wireless Application Protocol Bitmap Format is an image file format developed in the 1990s for displaying monochrome images and was adopted by many mobile phones.