High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a
container format
A container format (informally, sometimes called a wrapper) or metafile is a file format that allows multiple data streams to be embedded into a single file, usually along with metadata for identifying and further detailing those streams. Notab ...
for storing individual
digital image
A digital image is an image composed of picture elements, also known as ''pixels'', each with ''finite'', '' discrete quantities'' of numeric representation for its intensity or gray level that is an output from its two-dimensional functions ...
s and image sequences. The standard covers
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
files that can also include other media streams, such as
timed text
Timed text is the presentation of text media in synchrony with other media, such as audio and video.
Applications
Typical applications of timed text are the real-time subtitling of foreign-language movies on the Web, captioning for people lack ...
, audio and video.
HEIF can store images encoded with multiple coding formats, for example both
SDR and
HDR images.
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compari ...
is an image and video encoding format and the default image codec used with HEIF. HEIF files containing HEVC-encoded images are also known as HEIC files. Such files require less storage space than the equivalent quality
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
.
HEIF files are a special case of the
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
Base Media File Format (
ISOBMFF
The ISO base media file format (ISOBMFF) is a container file format that defines a general structure for files that contain time-based multimedia data such as video and audio.
It is standardized in ISO/IEC 14496-12, a.k.a. MPEG-4 Part 12, and was ...
, ISO/IEC 14496-12), first defined in 2001 as a shared part of
MP4 and
JPEG 2000
JPEG 2000 (JP2) is an image compression standard and coding system. It was developed from 1997 to 2000 by a Joint Photographic Experts Group committee chaired by Touradj Ebrahimi (later the JPEG president), with the intention of superseding the ...
. Introduced in 2015, it was developed by the
Moving Picture Experts Group
The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is an alliance of working groups established jointly by ISO and IEC that sets standards for media coding, including compression coding of audio, video, graphics, and genomic data; and transmission and f ...
(MPEG) and is defined as Part 12 within the
MPEG-H
MPEG-H is a group of international standards under development by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). It has various "parts" – each of which can be considered a separate standard. These include a media transport protocol standard, ...
media suite (ISO/IEC 23008-12).
HEIF was adopted by Apple in 2017 with the introduction of
iOS 11
iOS 11 is the iOS version history, eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers C ...
.
History
The requirements and main use cases of HEIF were defined in 2013.
The technical development of the specification took about one and a half years and was finalized in the middle of 2015.
Apple was the first major adopter of the format in 2017 with the introduction of
iOS 11
iOS 11 is the iOS version history, eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers C ...
using HEIC variant.
On some systems, pictures stored in the HEIC format are converted automatically to the older JPEG format when they are sent outside of the system, although incompatibility has led to problems such as US
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
test takers failing due to their phones uploading unsupported HEIC images by default leading the
College Board
The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...
to request students change the settings to send only JPEG files.
Features
HEIF files can store the following types of data:
; Image items: Storage of individual images, image properties and thumbnails.
; Image derivations: Derived images enable non-destructive image editing, and are created
on the fly
On the fly is a phrase used to describe something that is being changed while the process that the change affects is ongoing. It is used in the automotive, computer, and culinary industries. In cars, on the fly can be used to describe the changing ...
by the rendering software using editing instructions stored separately in the HEIF file. These instructions (rectangular cropping, rotation by one, two or three quarter-turns, timed graphic overlays, etc.) and images are stored separately in the HEIF file, and describe specific transformations to be applied to the input images. The storage overhead of derived images is small.
; Image sequences:Storage of multiple time-related and/or temporally predicted images (like a
burst-photo shot or
cinemagraph
Cinemagraphs are still photographs in which a minor and repeated movement occurs, forming a video clip. They are published as an animated GIF or in other video formats, and can give the illusion that the viewer is watching an animation. A vari ...
animation), their properties and thumbnails. Different prediction options can be used in order to exploit the temporal and spatial similarities between the images. Hence, file sizes can be drastically reduced when many images are stored in the same HEIF file.
; Auxiliary image items: Storage of image data, such as an
alpha plane or a
depth map
In 3D computer graphics and computer vision, a depth map is an image or image channel that contains information relating to the distance of the surfaces of scene objects from a viewpoint. The term is related (and may be analogous) to ''depth ...
, which complements another image item. These data are not displayed as such, but used in various forms to complement another image item.
; Image metadata: Storage of
EXIF
Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other system ...
,
XMP and similar metadata which accompany the images stored in the HEIF file.
Variants
As HEIF is a container format, it can contain still images and image sequences that are coded in different formats.
The main filename extensions are ''.heif'' for still images and ''.heifs'' for sequences, which can both be used with any codec. Generic HEIF image files are typically stored with
filename extension
A filename extension, file name extension or file extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file (e.g., .txt, .docx, .md). The extension indicates a characteristic of the file contents or its intended use. A filename extension is typically d ...
s ''.heif'', but they may use a different extension to indicate the specific codec used.
MIAF
The Multi-Image Application Format (MIAF) is a restricted subset of HEIF specified as part of
MPEG-A MPEG-A is a group of standards for composing MPEG systems formally known as ''ISO/IEC 23000'' - ''Multimedia Application Format'', published since 2007.
MPEG-A consists of 20 parts, including:
* MPEG-A Part 1: Purpose for multimedia application for ...
.
It defines a set of additional constraints to simplify format options, specific alpha plane formats, profiles and levels as well as metadata formats and brands, and rules for how to extend the format.
HEIC: HEVC in HEIF
High Efficiency Video Coding
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compar ...
(HEVC, ITU-T H.265) is an encoding format for graphic data, first standardized in 2013.
It is the primarily used and implied default codec for HEIF as specified in the normative Annex B to ISO/IEC 23008-12 ''HEVC Image File Format''.
While not introduced formally in the standard, the acronym HEIC (High-Efficiency Image Container) is used as a ''brand'' and in the MIME subtypes
image/heic
and
image/heic-sequence
. If the content conforms to certain
HEVC profiles, more specific brands can be used: HEIX for Main 10 of HEVC, HEIM for (Multiview) Main profile and HEIS for (Scalable) Main (10) profile of L-HEVC.
A HEIC photo takes up about half the space of an equivalent quality JPEG file.
The initial HEIF specification already defined the means of storing HEVC-encoded
intra images (''i-frames'') and HEVC-encoded image sequences in which
inter prediction is applied in a constrained manner.
HEVC image players are required to support rectangular cropping and rotation by one, two and three quarter-turns. The primary use case for the mandatory support for rotation by 90 degrees is for images where the camera orientation is incorrectly detected or inferred. The rotation requirement makes it possible to manually adjust the orientation of a still image or an image sequence without needing to re-encode it. Cropping enables the image to be re-framed without re-encoding. The HEVC file format also includes the option to store pre-derived images.
Samples in image sequence tracks must be either intra-coded images or inter-picture predicted images with reference to only intra-coded images. These constraints of inter-picture prediction reduce the decoding latency for accessing any particular image within a HEVC image sequence track.
The ''.heic'' and ''.heics'' file name extensions are conventionally used for HEVC-coded HEIF files.
Apple products, for instance,
will only produce files with these extensions, which indicate clearly that the data went through HEVC encoding.
AVCI: AVC in HEIF
Advanced Video Coding
Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distri ...
(AVC, ITU-T H.264) is an older encoding format for video and images, first standardized in 2003.
It is also specified as a codec to be supported in HEIF in normative Annex 5 to ISO/IEC 23008-12.
The registered MIME types are
image/avci
for still images and
image/avcs
for sequences. The format is simply known as AVCI.
Apple products support playback of AVC-encoded ''.avci'' still image files and ''.avcs'' image sequence files
but will only generate ''.heic'' files.
AVIF: AV1 in HEIF
AV1
AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) is an open, royalty-free video coding format initially designed for video transmissions over the Internet. It was developed as a successor to VP9 by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), a consortium founded in 2015 that ...
is a video encoding format that is intended to be royalty free developed by the
Alliance for Open Media
The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) is a non-profit industry consortium that develops open, royalty-free technology for multimedia delivery headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts. It uses the ideas and principles of open web standard develop ...
(AOMedia).
AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) is an image format based on this codec.
The registered MIME types are
image/avif
for still images which usually carry an ''.avif'' file name extension and
image/avif-sequence
for sequences which use ''.avifs'' file name extension.
This may be confusable with the classic
AVI
Avi is a given name, usually masculine, often a diminutive of Avram, Avraham, etc. It is sometimes feminine and a diminutive of the Hebrew spelling of Abigail.
People with the given name include:
* Avi (born 1937), Newbery award-winning Americ ...
Windows multimedia format which typically uses ''.avi''.
JPEG compression formats in HEIF files
The original
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
standard is the most commonly used and widely supported lossy image coding format, first released in 1992 by
ITU-T
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and Information Commu ...
and
ISO/IEC
ISO/IEC JTC 1, entitled "Information technology", is a joint technical committee (JTC) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Its purpose is to develop, maintain and pr ...
. Although Annex H to ISO/IEC 23008-12 specifies JPEG (and indirectly
Motion JPEG
Motion JPEG (M-JPEG or MJPEG) is a video compression format in which each video frame or interlaced field of a digital video sequence is compressed separately as a JPEG image.
Originally developed for multimedia PC applications, Motion JPE ...
) as a possible format for HEIF coded image data, it is used in HEIF only for thumbnails and other secondary images. Therefore, neither a dedicated MIME subtype nor a special file extension is available for storage of JPEG files in HEIF container files.
Several other compression formats defined by the JPEG group can be stored in HEIF files:
*Part 16 of the
JPEG 2000
JPEG 2000 (JP2) is an image compression standard and coding system. It was developed from 1997 to 2000 by a Joint Photographic Experts Group committee chaired by Touradj Ebrahimi (later the JPEG president), with the intention of superseding the ...
standard suite (ISO/IEC 15444-16 and ITU-T Rec. T.815) defines how to store JPEG 2000 images in HEIF container files. Part 2 of the JPEG 2000 suite (ISO/IEC 15444-2 and ITU-T Rec. T.801) also defines a different format for storing JPEG 2000 images in files that is also based on ISOBMFF.
*Annex F of the
JPEG XR
JPEG XR (JPEG extended range) is an image compression standard for continuous tone photographic images, based on the HD Photo (formerly Windows Media Photo) specifications that Microsoft originally developed and patented. It supports both lossy ...
image coding standard (ISO/IEC 29199-2 and ITU-T Rec. T.832) defines how to store JPEG XR images in HEIF container files. Annex A of JPEG XR also defines a different file format for storing JPEG XR images in files that is
TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...
-based, and Part 2 of the JPEG 2000 suite (ISO/IEC 15444-2 and ITU-T Rec. T.801) also supports a third file format for storing JPEG XR images in files that is based on ISOBMFF.
*
JPEG XS
JPEG XS (ISO/IEC 21122) is an interoperable, visually lossless, low-latency and lightweight Image compression, image and Video codec, video coding system used in professional applications. Applications of the standard include streaming high qual ...
has its HEIF container support defined in ISO/IEC 21122-3.
In 2017,
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
announced that it would adopt HEIC as the default image format in its new operating systems, gradually replacing JPEG.
Both AVIF and HEIC are currently being considered as possible replacements for the universal JPEG format because, among other technical contributions, both can reduce file size by about 50% while maintaining equivalent quality.
WXAM, SharpP
The proprietary image format WXAM or wxHEPC developed by
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
and used e.g. within
WeChat
WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has bee ...
is apparently based upon HEVC,
as is SharpP, also known as TPG (''Tiny Portable Graphics''), which was developed by their SNG division.
However, their container format may not be HEIF-compatible. TPG may also use
AVS2
Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS) refers to the digital audio and digital video series compression standard formulated by the Audio and Video coding standard workgroup of China.
Work began in 2002, and three generations of standards were publis ...
.
Support
*
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
provides an open source
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
HEIF decoder.
* The open source library "libheif" supports reading and writing HEIF files, as of version 1.8.0 both reading and writing HEIC and AVIF are supported.
* A free image codec called CopyTrans HEIC, available for Windows versions 7 through 10, supports opening HEIF files in
Windows Photo Viewer without the Microsoft codec installed. (The Microsoft HEIC codec is only available for Windows 10, version 1803 and up in the Photos
UWP app.)
Operating systems
*
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...
version 1803 and later (HEIC),
version 1903
Windows 10 May 2019 Update (also known as version 1903 and codenamed "19H1") is the seventh major update to Windows 10 and the first to use a more descriptive codename (including the year and the order released) instead of the "Redstone" or "Thres ...
and later (AVIF)
HEIF Image Extensionis needed to read and write files that use the HEIF format.
HEVC Video Extensionsis needed to play and produce HEVC-encoded video content. A small amount of money is charged for the use of the HEVC codec, whereas support for the generic HEIF format and the AVC and AV1 extensions are free.
*
macOS High Sierra
macOS High Sierra (version 10.13) is the fourteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. macOS High Sierra was announced at the WWDC 2017 on June 5, 2017 and was released on September 25, 2017. ...
and later (HEIC only)
Since
macOS Mojave
macOS Mojave ( ; version 10.14) is the fifteenth software versioning, major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. Mojave was announced at Apple's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Devel ...
, Apple uses HEIF in creating the Dynamic Desktop feature.
*
iOS 11
iOS 11 is the iOS version history, eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers C ...
and later (HEIC only)
iOS 16
iOS 16 is the 16th and current major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone line of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 6, 2022, as the successor to ...
and later AVIF
*Apple supports playback of ''.heif'' for still image files and ''.heifs'' for image sequence files
created on other devices that are encoded using any codec, provided that codec is supported by the operating system.
*
Android 8 (Oreo) and later (HEIF),
Android 10
Android 10 ( codenamed Android Q during development) is the tenth major release and the 17th version of the Android mobile operating system. It was first released as a developer preview on March 13, 2019, and was released publicly on Septembe ...
and later (HEIC),
Android 12
Android 12 is the twelfth major release and 19th version of Android, the mobile operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google. The first beta was released on May 18, 2021. Android 12 was released publicly on October 4 ...
and later (AVIF)
*
Ubuntu
Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: ''Desktop'', ''Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All the ...
20.04 and later (HEIC)
Web browsers
, no browser supports HEIC format natively.
For AVIF, Chrome, Firefox and Opera for desktop and Android support it. Safari on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 supports AVIF format.
Image editing software
*
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is a piece of image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Inc. as part of the Creative Cloud subscription family. It is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ...
(macOS 10.13+, iOS 11+, Windows 10+, and Android 9+)
*
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
**(Note that Photoshop for Windows requires the installation of both the HEIF and HEVC CODECs available from Microsoft.)
**Photoshop reads HEIC files, but as of 2022 does not allow saving to that format.
*
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is a raster graphics editor developed by Serif Ltd. for iOS, macOS, and Windows, alongside Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher. Development of Affinity Photo started in 2009 as a raster graphics editor for macOS. Its first ver ...
*
GIMP
GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...
recognizes and treats HEIF files since version 2.10.2, released in May 2018.
*
Darktable
Darktable (stylized as darktable) is a free and open-source photography application program and raw developer. Rather than being a raster graphics editor like Adobe Photoshop or GIMP, it comprises a subset of image editing operations specifically ...
*
GraphicConverter
GraphicConverter is computer software that displays and edits raster graphics files. It also converts files between different formats. For example, one can convert a GIF file to a JPEG file.
The program has a long history of supporting the Apple ...
*
ImageMagick
ImageMagick, invoked from the command line as magick, is a free and open-source cross-platform software suite for displaying, creating, converting, modifying, and editing raster images. Created in 1987 by John Cristy, it can read and write ove ...
*
Krita
Krita ( ) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor designed primarily for digital art and 2D animation. The software runs on Windows, macOS, Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on th ...
*
Paint.net
Paint.net (stylized as Paint.NET or paint.net) is a freeware raster graphics editor program for Microsoft Windows, developed on the .NET Framework. Paint.net was originally created by Rick Brewster as a Washington State University student project, ...
*
PaintShop Pro
PaintShop Pro (PSP) is a raster graphics editor, raster and vector graphics editor for Microsoft Windows. It was originally published by Jasc Software. In October 2004, Corel purchased Jasc Software and the distribution rights to Paint Shop Pro. P ...
*
Pixelmator
Pixelmator is a graphic editor developed for macOS by Lithuanian brothers Saulius and Aidas Dailide, and built upon a combination of open-source and macOS technologies. Pixelmator features selection, painting, retouching, navigation, and color ...
(version 3.7 and above)
*
Zoner Photo Studio X
Hardware
* The
Canon EOS-1D X Mark III
The Canon EOS-1D X Mark III is the company's 20-megapixel full-frame DSLR flagship camera, announced on January 6, 2020, by Canon. It is the successor to the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, which was released on February 1, 2016.
The camera will reporte ...
,
Canon EOS R5
The Canon EOS R5 is a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera officially announced by Canon on July 9, 2020 alongside the lower-resolution EOS R6 and various new RF mount lenses. While it is not a direct successor to any of Canon's pr ...
, and
Canon EOS R6
The Canon EOS R6 is a high-end full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera produced by Canon. The camera was announced by Canon on July 9, 2020, alongside the EOS R5.
Features
* 20.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor
* 4K 10-bit ...
cameras use the HEIF format to capture images in an
HDR display format that use the
PQ tone curve,
BT.2100 color primaries and 10-bit. "We've moved on to HEIF files," Canon said in 2019.
* The
Sony α1
The Sony α1 is a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera by Sony that was announced on January 27, 2021. The α1 was announced together with the Xperia Pro smartphone, which can be used as an HDR monitor and a 5G transmitter. The c ...
and
Sony α7 IV
The Sony α7 IV (model ILCE-7M4) is a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera manufactured by Sony. It was announced on 21 October 2021 as the successor to the Sony α7 III. Featuring a new 34.1MP (approx. total). Back-illuminated sens ...
offer capturing images in 10-bit HEIF format with an
HDR format that uses
HLG.
* Multiple Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs support capturing images in HEIC format (e.g. Snapdragon 888, Snapdragon 662). Some of their latest SoCs also support capturing in HEIC with
HDR (e.g. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Snapdragon 780).
* The
iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are smartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the tenth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 7, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Fran ...
and later devices from
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
can capture media in HEIF or
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compari ...
format.
*
Android smartphones lik
Xiaomi 12OPPO Reno 7 5GSamsung Galaxy S21 5Gcan capture images in HEIF format.
Websites
* During May 2020, online
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
exams allowed students to submit photos of handwritten responses. Because the website was unable to process HEIF images, students whose phones defaulted to this image format were considered to have not submitted any response and often failed to complete the exam.
College Board
The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...
, which administers the exams, later provided a system for users to submit photos of answers via e-mail. Because the iOS Mail app automatically converts HEIF images to JPEG, this mitigated the problem.
* Facebook supports the upload of HEIC but converts to JPEG or WEBP on display.
* Discord does not support HEIC at all.
Patent licensing
HEIF itself is a container that may not be subject to additional royalty fees for commercial ISOBMFF licensees. Note however that Nokia also grants its patents on a royalty-free basis for non-commercial purposes.
When containing images and image sequences encoded in a particular format (e.g. HEVC or AVC) its use becomes subject to the licensing of patents on the coding format.
See also
*
Better Portable Graphics
Better Portable Graphics (BPG) is a file format for coding digital images, which was created by programmer Fabrice Bellard in 2014. He has proposed it as a replacement for the JPEG image format as the more compression-efficient alternative in ter ...
(BPG) – another image file format using HEVC encoding, published by
Fabrice Bellard
Fabrice Bellard (; born 1972) is a French computer programmer known for writing FFmpeg, QEMU, and the Tiny C Compiler. He developed Bellard's formula for calculating single digits of pi. In 2012, Bellard co-founded Amarisoft, a telecommunication ...
in 2014
*
Free Lossless Image Format
Free Lossless Image Format (FLIF) is a lossless image format claiming to outperform PNG, lossless WebP, lossless BPG and lossless JPEG 2000 in terms of compression ratio on a variety of inputs.
FLIF supports a form of progressive interlaci ...
(FLIF) – FOSS image format released in 2015, claiming to outperform PNG, WebP, BPG and JPEG 2000 for lossless encoding at least
*
WebP
WebP is an image file format developed by Google intended as a replacement for JPEG, PNG, and GIF file formats. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, as well as animation and alpha transparency.
Google announced the WebP format i ...
– an image file format based on the
VP8
VP8 is an open and royalty-free video compression format released by On2 Technologies in 2008.
Initially released as a proprietary successor to On2's previous VP7 format, VP8 was released as an open and royalty-free format in May 2010 after Goog ...
and
VP9
VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.
VP9 is the successor to VP8 and competes mainly with MPEG's High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265).
At first, VP9 was mainly used on Google's video platform YouTube. ...
video formats
References
External links
*
HEIF– MPEG Image File Format standard site
HEIF– format site at
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
wit
source codeat
GitHub
GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous ...
libheif– source code at
GitHub
GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous ...
{{MPEG
Animated graphics file formats
Computer-related introductions in 2015
Graphics file formats
Graphics standards
Image compression
MPEG-H