
Question: What Does .jpg Stand For?
Answer:
In computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The name JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the name of the committee that created the standard.
Both JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and JPG (Joint Photographic Group) are bitmap compression formats for picture and image files with compression ratios ranging from 10:1 to 20:1. In fact, JPG and JPEF file formats are identical. Older DOS-based computers were designed to handle a maximum "3-character file extension" which is why JPG was attributed to compressed image files. Newer Operating systems such as Windows XP and Vista allow for longer file extensions as evidenced by ".html". Accordingly, the JPF file extension was upgraded to the JPEG file extension which is the true acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Just as a side note, XP and Vista will also support the older JPG file extension.
Question: What Does .gif Stand For?
Answer:
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a bitmap based image file format. It was developed and introduced by CompuServe in 1987. GIF is one of the most popular image file formats used on the internet today. The first version of GIF was 87a; CompuServe introduced an advanced version called 89a in 1989. The 89a version enabled the storage of several images in one file, so as to create simple animations.
GIF supports up to 8 bits per pixel. This permits a single image to use a palette of an upper limit of 256 colors. These colors are based on the 24 bit RGB color range. For animated GIF files, it has a separate palette of 256 colors for each frame. These sorts of color palettes make GIF suitable for basic images with solid colors rather than color rich images. GIF images utilize the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) lossless data compression process to decrease the file size, without sacrificing image quality.
Application Of The .gif File Format
The GIF file format can be used to produce the following:
+Small Animations And Low-Resolution Film Clips.
+Low color sprite data for games.
+Straight-Lined And Pointed Artwork Such As Logos.
+Cellphone Wallpapers.