Difference!

[Mortto56]

I'm not much of a computer person,so this is my question:

What is the difference between jpegs,and gifs.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Merelan]

Jpegs are better lightly grilled with just the barest hint of garlic. Gifs, on the other hand, are better fried in bacon fat with onions, and served on a thick, crusty roll.
Either one can be served with wine.

You said any help.

 

[Mortto56]

Well merelan either one sounds tasty.

And any particular wine you have in mind?

 

[Merelan]

Hmmm... depends on if you want me horny... or just chatty. White wine makes me chatty and philosophical... red makes me horny.

 

[John_Galt]

The real difference

I'm not much of a computer person,so this is my question:

What is the difference between jpegs,and gifs.

Thanks for any help!

If this gets boring, skip to the end.

JPEG and GIF are two different formats for storing picture data.

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. This format was developed by Compuserve for images on their service in the 1980's. The format was designed for bitmap type graphics (raster graphics). There are several versions of the standard. The initial GIF formats did not offer image compression, so the image files were somewhat large for larger images. The later standards included a data compression option based on the LZW compression algorithm. Unfortunately, the LZW algorithm was patented by a modem manufacturer (I don't remember which one right now). The LZW algorithm compresses the data, and when decompressed, the data that comes out of the decompression algorithm is identical to the data that went into the compression algorithm. Compression in GIF's is a no-loss compression.

For more technical info on GIF's, check out http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif87.txt and http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt.

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, which is the international group that develops and maintains the JPEG standards. The JPEG standard for image files offers a format for storing photographic data in either uncompressed or compressed form. Most JPEG files that you see are compressed. The compression used in JPEG files is a different algorithm than the LZW algorithm used in compressed GIF files.

The main difference is that the JPEG compression algorithm is a "lossy" algorithm. If you take a data file and compress it with the JPEG compression algorithm, then decompress that compresssed data with the JPEG decompression algorithm, the result is a file which does not match the original file. The algorithm is tunable for losses and compression. The more loss of detail you are willing to accept, the greater the compression algorithm can reduce the size of the image files.

More info on JPEG can be found at http://www.jpeg.org.

Summary
The main difference between the formats is the compression that they support. GIF compression is a no-loss compression algorithm. JPEG compression is a lossy compression algorithm, and most programs that save JPEG format files will allow you to select the amount of compression (and loss of detail) that you wish to accept. The more loss of detail you are willing to accept the smaller the compressed image.

Either will go well with almost any wine. It depends on your mood as to which wine you should choose.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: The real difference

[BSummary
The main difference between the formats is the compression that they support. GIF compression is a no-loss compression algorithm. JPEG compression is a lossy compression algorithm, and most programs that save JPEG format files will allow you to select the amount of compression (and loss of detail) that you wish to accept. The more loss of detail you are willing to accept the smaller the compressed image.

Either will go well with almost any wine. It depends on your mood as to which wine you should choose. [/B]

A very good explanation! I learned a bit more than I already knew about the differences.

I would add that there is one other very important difference between the GIF and JPeG formats, and that is color depth.

GIF formats do not support more than 256 colors (8 bit color), while JPeG supports "True Color" 24 bit color depth.

 

[Mortto56]

Well Thank You J~G & WH.

I'll Have to say that I learned alot myself on the differences.Though I don't understand all of it,I do understand some of it.

I was reading a tread someplace here on the "How To" section where someone wrote in that some carrieres will store Gifs and not Jpegs.

Thank you guys again!

And merelan,how about some red & white wine mixed.
That way we can be chatty and philosophical,and be really horny too.
What do ya say?

 

[Weird Harold]

I was reading a thread someplace here on the "How To" section where someone wrote in that some carrieres will store Gifs and not Jpegs.

It isn't "storing" that some places distinguish between GIF and JPG files, it's what is called hotlinking.

Hotlinking is acessing a picture on one site from another site -- like linking an avatar picture into you signature or location, or using the IMG tags to link a picture into a post.

Since GIFs are limited to 8 bit color (256 colors), they are image for image, smaller than JPeg files and not as much of a site's bandwidth is consumed by storing pictures being displayed on other sites if they only allow GIFs to be hotlinked.

Other sites block hotlinking completely so they aren't footing the bill for the bandwidth actually used by other sites through hotlinking. Hotlinking cost sites advertising dollars by bypassing the homepages and content while incurring the cost of transmitting the picture to the web when an ouside webpage calls for a picture.

 

[Mortto56]

Wow WH,you never ceise to amaze me.

I would like to get your opinion here.

Because I'm just starting to learn about computers.Is there a certain book that you would reccomend for someone thats a newbee to computers.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Mortto56]

Wow WH,you never seice to amaze me.

I would like to get your opinion here.

Because I'm just starting to learn about computers.Is there a certain book that you would reccomend for someone thats a newbee to computers.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Weird Harold]

Because I'm just starting to learn about computers.Is there a certain book that you would reccomend for someone thats a newbee to computers.

_Computers for Dummies_, or a similar book that starts with the basics of what each part does and how the parts interact, with explanantions of basic terms like the difference between an operating system and an application, is a good starting point.

More specific recommendations depend on what kind of computer, what software, and what you want to do with a computer.

That's basically the short version of what I said in e-mail, but it's probasbly usefull to others so I'll reply here too.