AVIF
A cutting-edge format from the AV1 codec. Surpasses JPEG and WebP in compression with HDR support.
AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is an open, royalty-free format by the Alliance for Open Media. It applies AV1 video codec intra-frame compression to still images (spec 2019). Google, Mozilla, Apple, and Netflix participate in AOMedia.
AVIF achieves the highest compression among current formats - ~50% smaller than JPEG and ~20% smaller than WebP at equivalent quality. It excels at low bitrates where other formats show artifacts, benefiting mobile environments.
- HDR and wide gamut: 10/12-bit depth with BT.2020 and Display P3, beyond sRGB
- Advanced compression: 128x128 superblocks, 67 intra prediction modes, DCT/ADST/Identity combinations
- Alpha channel: Full transparency support
- Animation: Animated sequences supported
The challenge is encoding speed - AV1 computation is tens of times greater than JPEG, requiring pre-encoded assets. Browser support includes Chrome, Firefox, Safari (iOS 16+), with <picture> fallback for older environments.