In article , Mayayana
wrote:

"Lewis" wrote
| HEIF is an excellent format with many modern advantages.

I'm guessing you're saying that because you use Apple
and Apple told you so, because Apple is switching to
it in iPhones.

no, it's because it's much better, with files typically around half the
size of a jpeg and with higher quality.

apple is the first to use it. others will follow.

First, it's a container format, not an image format.

that's a feature, and a very important and useful one, particularly
where non-destructive edits can be stored with the image.

Something like docx or like various compound
storage formats.

not really.

Second, the compression used seems to be very good, but
is it totally non-lossy? That's not clear from what I've read.

keep reading. both lossless and lossy are supported.

Third, and this is a biggie, the compression is patented:
https://www.hevcadvance.com/licensin...ng-information

lots of things are patented.

Apple is using a system that allows for flexibility like storing
different copies of the same image in one container.

that's not why they're using it and it's not apple's format either.

heif is an industry standard format that apple *and* others currently
support or will be supporting in the future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format
High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF, often pronounced
heef) is a file format for individual images and image sequences. It
was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and is
defined by MPEG-H Part 12 (ISO/IEC 23008-12).

And
presumably they're paying the patent fees.

presumably.

But that's not
needed for a basic file format.

it's much more than a basic file format. that's the point.

All that's needed is to develop
the best possible compression for bitmaps and then make
that format widely supported. Add a clear metadata storage
system and it does everything that anyone could want, at
least within the range of 24-bit color raster images.

which is what heif/hevc is intended to do, and a *****load* more.

But it needs to be a non-patented compression. Otherwise
it can't be used by most of the people who would want to
use it, like webmasters.

start he
https://github.com/nokiatech/heif