The Firefox developer tested Google's image format on a variety of images but found a different alternative showed the best image quality improvements over JPEG. October 17, 2013 1:48 PM PDT Mozilla studied Google's WebP image format and wasn't convinced it's significantly better than decades-old JPEG. In this chart, a lower number means a smaller file size for a given quality level compared to JPEG. (Credit: Mozilla) Bad news for fans of Google's WebP: a Mozilla has given it a resounding meh in a study comparing it and rival image formats. The study compared JPEG to WebP, JPEG XR, and HEVC-MSP, a . Google has touted WebP as a way to reduce file sizes on the Web and therefore to speed up Web page loading and cut bandwidth costs. Related stories Blink leaders reject animated WebP images in Chrome, for now Animated WebP graphics support no shoo-in for Chrome Plug-ins give Photoshop support for Google's WebP image format Google cuts network usage by terabytes by switching to WebP Facebook to Firefox: Please add WebP image support Firefox developers initially decided against WebP, but the support of significant sites, including Facebook, encouraged Mozilla to reevaluate. The study doesn't seem to have carried the day, though. "We consider this study to be inconclusive when it comes to the question of whether WebP and/or JPEG XR outperform JPEG by any significant margin," Mozilla programmer Josh Aas said in a blog post Thursday. Indeed, it was the HEVC-MSP that showed the biggest improvement over JPEG. But even if Mozilla didn't get excited by WebP, it didn't reject it, either. "We are not rejecting the possibility of including support for any format in this study on the basis of the study's results. We will continue to evaluate the formats by other means and will take any feedback we receive from these results into account," Aas said, pointing people to a discussion about Mozilla's findings. The study compared the file size of several collections of images when compressed with the various formats, using four different signal-processing calculations to measure quality. It didn't evaluate various other WebP factors, such as its ability to include transparent "alpha" channels, which JPEG lacks, and its ability to handle losslessly compressed images, which means it can substitute for the PNG file format, too.
The Firefox developer tested Google's image format on a variety of images but found a different alternative showed the best image quality improvements over JPEG.
Mozilla studied Google's WebP image format and wasn't convinced it's significantly better than decades-old JPEG. In this chart, a lower number means a smaller file size for a given quality level compared to JPEG.
(Credit: Mozilla)
Bad news for fans of Google's WebP: a Mozilla has given it a resounding meh in a study comparing it and rival image formats.
The study compared JPEG to WebP, JPEG XR, and HEVC-MSP, a . Google has touted WebP as a way to reduce file sizes on the Web and therefore to speed up Web page loading and cut bandwidth costs.
Related stories
- Blink leaders reject animated WebP images in Chrome, for now
- Animated WebP graphics support no shoo-in for Chrome
- Plug-ins give Photoshop support for Google's WebP image format
- Google cuts network usage by terabytes by switching to WebP
- Facebook to Firefox: Please add WebP image support
Firefox developers initially decided against WebP, but the support of significant sites, including Facebook, encouraged Mozilla to reevaluate. The study doesn't seem to have carried the day, though.
"We consider this study to be inconclusive when it comes to the question of whether WebP and/or JPEG XR outperform JPEG by any significant margin," Mozilla programmer Josh Aas said in a blog post Thursday. Indeed, it was the HEVC-MSP that showed the biggest improvement over JPEG.
But even if Mozilla didn't get excited by WebP, it didn't reject it, either. "We are not rejecting the possibility of including support for any format in this study on the basis of the study's results. We will continue to evaluate the formats by other means and will take any feedback we receive from these results into account," Aas said, pointing people to a discussion about Mozilla's findings.
The study compared the file size of several collections of images when compressed with the various formats, using four different signal-processing calculations to measure quality.
It didn't evaluate various other WebP factors, such as its ability to include transparent "alpha" channels, which JPEG lacks, and its ability to handle losslessly compressed images, which means it can substitute for the PNG file format, too.
