WebP, Google format to replace JPEG
A new graphic file format coined by Google wants to compete with JPEG by offering more features, including transparency and animation.
WebP (pronouncing "wepy") is more efficient than JPEG and provides faster unpacking. Designed for images to include in web pages, it will allow you to download and display faster and, in addition, fits into Google's web acceleration policy.
It is provided under a free license.
Equipment
The process is destructive, unlike PNG: the more the compression ratio increases and the more the picture loses exactly.
The container file is derived from the Resource Exchange File Format or RIFF. It is already used by AVI files and WAV sound files. It adds 20 bytes per image and expands. You can place multiple frames in a file and create an animation.
The compression process is based on the WebM VP8 codec. Predictive coding uses pixel codes adjacent to a block to predict values in the block and encodes only differences between the found and predicted values.
Transparency is not supported, but will be in a future version. JPEG can't stand her.
Comparison with JPEG
Google cited several comparative examples.
First, a JPEG image. Size 1175642 bytes.
Then the WebP image. Size 864134 bytes.
 JPEG |
 WebP |
Images were captured and converted to PNG, which is non-destructive and therefore displays all image details in each format.
Comparison with JPEG 2000 also shows the advantage of WebP .
What compatibility?
It will be years before it becomes the benchmark for the Web. To solve this problem, Google invites webmasters to check if the browser supports the format, and if so, then download the web image. What is quite possible on pages containing image galleries.
In 2014, WebP is only recognized by Chrome and Opera, which use the same Blink rendering engine (derived from WebKit). Facebook uses this format, but like all sites that want to do this, has installed a script to upload the same image to PNG or JPEG for users of other browsers.
Also note that computers that already support WebM will also support WebP.
Further information