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Format Guide
Understanding AVIF — Next-gen compression
1 min read
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AVIF is the newest mainstream image format, offering exceptional compression efficiency.
What is AVIF?
- Based on: AV1 video codec (developed by the Alliance for Open Media)
- Released: 2019
- Compression: 20-50% smaller than WebP, 50%+ smaller than JPG
- Features: Transparency, HDR, wide color gamut, 10/12-bit depth, animation
- License: Royalty-free and open source
Browser support
Support is growing rapidly:
- Chrome 85+ (Aug 2020)
- Firefox 93+ (Oct 2021)
- Safari 16.1+ (Oct 2022)
- Edge 121+ (Jan 2024)
Advantages
- Best compression ratio of any mainstream format
- HDR and wide color gamut support
- Royalty-free — no patent licensing issues
- Transparency with excellent compression
Tradeoffs
- Slower encoding — Converting to AVIF takes longer than JPG or WebP
- Limited tool support — Some image editors can’t open AVIF natively
- Newer browser requirement — Older browsers need JPG/WebP fallback
When to use AVIF
- Website images where page speed matters
- Apps with bandwidth-sensitive users (mobile)
- When you can provide a JPG/WebP fallback for older browsers
- Photo galleries where storage savings are significant
Convert to AVIF with KoalaPic’s JPG to AVIF or PNG to AVIF converters.
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