Sources Contact Advanced Search Tutorials

An Interest In:

Web News this Week

Search Archive

Some of Our Sources

View All Sources

Help Webnuz

Referal links:

October 6, 2018 10:00 am

Firefox To Support Google's WebP Image Format For a Faster Web

Eight years later, Firefox has decided to join Google's WebP -- "a modern image format that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web." Mozilla initially rejected the format for not offering a big enough improvement over the more widely used image formats, JPEG and PNG. CNET reports: "Mozilla is moving forward with implementing support for WebP," the nonprofit organization said. WebP will work in versions of Firefox based on its Gecko browser engine, Firefox for personal computers and Android but not for iOS. Mozilla plans to add support in the first half of 2019. Committing to a new image format on the web is a big deal. In addition to technical challenges and new security risks, embracing a new image format means embracing it for years and years, because removing support at some point in the future will break websites that rely on it. Why the change of heart? "We are seeing a number of developments coming together that might lead to an accelerated adoption of WebP," including Edge support, Mozilla said. Mozilla is a major backer of another image format under development, AVIF. Where WebP is based on Google's VP8 video compression technology, AVIF is based on a newer video format called AV1 from a much broader group, the Alliance for Open Media. That alliance includes a lot of heavy hitters, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Amazon, Netflix and Facebook, but most of its work is focused on the AV1 video format. "We also look forward to AVIF being ready, and we will continue to invest in it," Mozilla said.

Slashdot

Slashdot was originally created in September of 1997 by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda. Today it is owned by Geeknet, Inc..

More About this Source Visit Slashdot