PNG undergoes first major update in two decades: introducing HDR, animation, and Exif support
The PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format, a long-standing standard for web imagery, has received its first significant update since 2003. It now officially supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, APNG (Animated Portable Network Graphics) animation, and the storage of Exif metadata, ensuring its continued versatility and relevance as a graphic format.
HDR is a key innovation, enabling the display of a broader range of colors and brightness levels, closer to the perception of the human eye. Notably, only four additional bytes are required to store HDR data. The inclusion of the animated APNG format within the standard also marks a significant change. APNG, originally proposed by Mozilla, is already widely supported by most web browsers. This integration will position animated PNGs as a full-fledged alternative to GIFs, offering superior quality due to their lossless compression.
Furthermore, built-in support for Exif metadata has been introduced to the PNG format. Previously, such data (including authorship, camera settings, and geolocation) could only be added using third-party tools. Now, this information can be seamlessly embedded and preserved, mirroring the ease of use found in JPEG files.
The new standard is already supported by the majority of modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox), operating systems (iOS, macOS), and software applications (Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve), as confirmed by How-To Geek. Users are not required to take any additional actions.
The PNG development group has also announced future updates: the fourth version of the standard is slated to enhance the compatibility between HDR and standard images, while the fifth version aims to optimize compression algorithms and introduce support for parallel file processing.
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