JPG Vs JPEG - What Is The Difference?

JPG vs. JPEG: What's The Difference?

None of them are created equal. In fact, many of them were created to solve a problem that no other format could. For example, the JPEG was created because image file sizes were becoming unmanageable.

The JIF, JPEG, and JPG file extensions all refer to the same thing. To understand why the file format has so many names, we need to go back in time.

What Is a JIF? 

A JIF file is a JPEG in its "purest" form. The format is no longer widely used due to frustrating limitations. For example, JIF color and pixel aspect definitions caused issues between encoders and decoders (viewers).

Thankfully, other "supplementary" standards built on the JIF addressed these issues. The JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF) was the first, followed by Exif and ICC color profiles.

JPEG/JFIF is the most widely used internet image storage and transmission format, while JPEG/Exif is used by digital cameras and other image capture devices. Most people don't know the difference and call both JPEG.

What Is a JPEG?

The JPEG file type was named after the sub-committee that helped create the JPEG Interchange Format (JIF) standard. The International Organization for Standardization issued it in 1992. (ISO).

JPEGs are 24-bit raster images with eight bits per RGB channel. As a result, while JPEGs can support over 16 million colors, they cannot support transparency.

When an image is saved as a JPEG, some data is lost due to lossy file compression. As a result, the image takes up to 50% less storage space than older formats like BMP, with little to no loss in image quality.

JPEG compression uses the discrete cosine transform (DCT), which was invented by electrical engineer Nasir Ahmed in 1972.

What Is a JPG2 or JPF?

The JPEG group released JPEG 2000 in 2000. (its file extensions are JPG2 and JPF). It was supposed to replace the JPEG, but it flopped. Thoughts on the advanced encoding method.

For a few reasons, the JPEG 2000 file format failed. It was not backward compatible with JPEG because it used a new code. Plus, processing JPEG 2000 files required more memory, which was a deal-breaker back then. Since most computers had only 64 MB of memory at the time,

The JPEG 2000 has seen a resurgence as computer hardware has improved over the last 20 years, but it is still underused. Currently, only Safari supports JPEG 2000 files.

JPEG vs. JPG

Early Windows (specifically MS-DOS 8.3 and FAT-16 file systems) had a 3-letter limit on file extension length. To stay under the limit, JPEG was shortened to JPG. Since Mac and Linux computers lack this feature, users continue to save images as JPEG.

Popular image editing programs like Photoshop and Gimp eventually changed their default JPEG file extension to JPG to avoid confusion.

So we have two file extensions for the same format: JPG and JPEG. There is no difference between them when saving your image.

JPEG vs. PNG: Which Is Better?

The JPEG and PNG file formats were both released in the same decade, each solving a different digital image problem. It's only natural that they're constantly compared and they still are. Which image file format is best between JPEG and PNG?

Honestly, it depends on the image.

JPEGs are better for photos because they use lossy compression to keep file sizes small. Due to their size and detail, photographs do not show compression artifacts (subtle image distortions caused by compression).

A JPEG doesn't look right when it has sharp points, crisp edges, and large areas of one color (like vector logos, pixel art, etc.).

Here comes the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file. The PNG was created four years after the JPEG and supports lossless data compression and transparency. PNGs are commonly used when image quality is important but file size is not.

Keep JPEG for photos and PNG for non-photographic images.

JPEG and JPG Are the Same File Format

Despite the JPEG's many updates and variations, its release in the mid-90s led to the eventual flood of digital images on the internet.

When you're ready to export a photo from an image editor, remember that JPEG and JPG are the same thing.