Google Unveils WebP, New Image Format for the Web
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 30th Sep 2010 23:04 UTC
Google A few months ago, Google open sourced the VP8 video codec as part of the WebM video project, to create a truly Free/free unencumbered video format for the web as an answer to the non-Free/free patent-encumbered H264 format. Today, Google launched a new image format for the web, WebP, which aims to significantly reduce the file size of photos and images on the web.
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Slambert666
Member since:
2008-10-30

Quoting one of the commentators on the site:

The examples page is lame... you can take the same jpeg images and save them with a higher compression level and get effectively the same reduction in file size.

For example I took "10.jpg", a 1.1 meg file, adjusted the jpeg compression and got it down to 189k with no visible loss of quality. That's an over 80% reduction in file size and I didn't have to change the file format.

The Web doesn't need a new file format, especially one that doesn't really do anything substantively different. WebP is no different than JPEG with a higher compression setting as the default.


So WebP does not even fare well against standard jpeg...

Reply Parent Score: 6

bnolsen Member since:
2006-01-06

Possibly quite correct. The DCT is a pretty damn good image transform. The problem with it is computational cost and the ijg libraries frankly suck.

For something like WebP to get any traction is if it's even simpler and easier to implement and computationally more efficient. Right now the google pages about webp seem to be out of commission so I can't look into this part myself.

Reply Parent Score: 2

fithisux Member since:
2006-01-22

There is always DWT

Reply Parent Score: 2

Read more of this thread... >
Valhalla Member since:
2006-01-24


So WebP does not even fare well against standard jpeg...

Well, unless you have decided that this particular random guy on the interwebs are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT in his assessment despite only offering his own subjective perception then that comment really decided nothing. I'm looking forward to a real test by some experts, preferably using non-lossy compressed media to begin with. But even if webp turns out to be alot more efficient than jpg in terms of size/quality I think it's going to be really hard to make a dent in jpg's dominance on the web. Heck, even gif files are still in heavy use despite png being a superior format and even at it's heyday gif was nowhere near jpg in terms of widespread usage (I am old enough to remember having fuzzy dithered gif porn images in my youth, kids today don't know what we oldtimers had to suffer through ;) ).

Reply Parent Score: 3

Slambert666 Member since:
2008-10-30

Well, unless you have decided that this particular random guy on the interwebs are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT in his assessment despite only offering his own subjective perception then that comment really decided nothing.


You are of course 100% correct in that observation, but please remember that is is Google themselves that started this nonsense with comparing some random samples and made a gallery biased to make it look like WebP is "much" better than jpeg.
If in fact it is not much better but just a little better, would you use it?

Reply Parent Score: 3

Neolander Member since:
2010-03-08

Heck, even gif files are still in heavy use despite png being a superior format

1/There isn't a single supported standard for animated PNG across all browsers.
2/Most PNG encoders bundled in image editors aim for quality and don't support artificially enforcing use of limited color palettes, so in the end you can make GIF much smaller than PNG when it's needed ;)

Edited 2010-10-01 07:30 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 3

Almafeta Member since:
2007-02-22

JPEG is a pretty awesome format, all told. It's just that it's not used appropriately in 95% of all cases, and many of the programs that use it don't expose all the features of the format.

Reply Parent Score: 1

Laurence Member since:
2007-03-26

Quoting one of the commentators on the site: " The examples page is lame... you can take the same jpeg images and save them with a higher compression level and get effectively the same reduction in file size. For example I took "10.jpg", a 1.1 meg file, adjusted the jpeg compression and got it down to 189k with no visible loss of quality. That's an over 80% reduction in file size and I didn't have to change the file format. The Web doesn't need a new file format, especially one that doesn't really do anything substantively different. WebP is no different than JPEG with a higher compression setting as the default.
So WebP does not even fare well against standard jpeg... "

The problem with that post is that a JPEG set to highest compression does look very crappy. I don't care what this internet anom stated, it's very noticable.

So yes, you can compress JPEG to ~80%, but there's a massive trade off in image quality. Much like MP3 compression really and such is life with any lossy compression formula.

Reply Parent Score: 3