Provide a definition (in your own words) of what the difference is between JPG, GIF, PIC, TARA, TIF, and BMP. Explain why only GIF or JPG are actually used in WEB graphics.
JPG - (Joint Photographic Experts Group) A format that uses lossy compression to compress bitmap images.
GIF - (Graphics Interchange Format) It is the predominant graphics format on the Web, one that all browsers and helper applications recognize. GIF is an 8-bit format, although a 24-bit version has been proposed. The GIF format uses the LZW compression scheme, which reduces file size without loss of image quality.
PIC - (Platform for Internet Content Selection) PIC files contain images in an uncompressed format. Both the original Animator and Animator Pro from Autodesk produce PIC files. The file formats are different; Animator Pro produces a hierarchial block oriented file, while the original Animator file is a simpler fixed format.
TARA - The Tara TGA format was developed
by Truevision for their Tara and Vista products. The TGA format file
is widely used by high-end paint programs. It can handle images
with up to sixteen million unique colors. It is an industry standard
but is not as widely supported. TGA files may be saved compressed
or not compressed.
TIFF - (Tag Image File Format) A format used to compress bitmap images. It supports 1,4,8 and 24-bit color. There are 6 different types of TIFF's, so it is difficult for a standard browser to support.
BMP - (Bitmap) All the BMP versions originated on Intel-based machines, and thus share a common little-endian heritage. The current BMP format is otherwise hardware-independent and can accommodate images with up to 24-bit color. Its basic design makes it a good general-purpose format that can be used for color or black-and-white image storage if file size is not a factor. Its great advantages are its simplicity and widespread support in the PC marketplace.
Why use only GIF or JPG - GIFs and JPGs are both compressed files which means they are smaller (can be sent back and forth on the web quickly). Also GIFs and JPGs are both standard formats that are recognized by all web browsers.
WAV - The WAV file is sponsored by IBM and
Microsoft and is the format most commonly used by Microsoft product.
It is an uncompressed format so for a file the same length as
an AU file, the wave file size is twice as big. You can store
a sound wave in 8 or 16-bit but the lower the number the lower the quality.
WAV files can support both mono and stereo
sound.
AU - The AU file was originally developed
for the UNIX operation system. It is stored in a compressed format
and is the international standard for compressing voice quality audio.
AU is the most widely used format for sound on the web.
MIDI - The MIDI file was developed by the music
industry for connecting electric instuments to each other and a computer.
MIDI files are not actual sounds of musical instruments,
but are a set of code turning on sound and pitch event. It sounds
like an old video game from back in the 1980's rather than true music.
The benefit of using MIDI is the small file size.
SHOCKWAVE or REAL - Movies developed by Macromedia
were in the Shockwave multimedia format, which features streaming audio
and video. This starts the movie or
audio clip as soon as the browser plugin begins to receive the file.
Real waves are audio waves used to provide a Net radio for the user.
Quick Time - Was developed for Macintosh.
It is a very common file type and is supported by most browsers.
It can be played on PC's using Quick Time for Movies. Usually
Quick Time for movies have a file extension of .qt or .mov. They
are a fairly good and fast format for viewing video files.
AVI - (Audio/Video Interleave) Was developed
by Microsoft and is the normal standard for PV videos. There are
a fair number of files available, however there are far fewer
players for platforms outside of the PC. So, it is less suitable
than other file types for use across the Web. It is not now nor will
it ever expected to become a net standard. Explorer
allows you use these movies without a plugin. However, for Netscape,
a plugin will be required.