In digital images, file format matters because it dictates the compatibility, size, and quality of the photographic content on different platforms. Recently, HEIC vs. AVIF emerged as the closest contender to succeeding in the customary JPG and PNG formats.
HEIC and AVIF use container formats but differ or share certain features, including compression, structure, performance, animation support, browser support, file size, image quality, structure, transparency, and storage, as discussed in this article.
When is AVIF better than HEIC?
AVIF file type is an open and royalty-free image format with advanced compression efficiency and better detail preservation, while HEIC is non-open and uses HEVC, which is slightly less efficient than AV1 video code.
AVIF is suitable for generating smaller, web-efficient, and high-quality images in digital art, graphic design, blogs, and photographic portfolios.
When is HEIC better than AVIF?
HEIC images use HEVC to create smaller, high-quality, and widely compatible but multilayered images, while AVIF is not widely supported across platforms and programs as HEIC.
HEIC is better when manipulating and storing online video clips because it offers smaller, high-quality images that incur fewer bandwidth costs, consume fewer bytes, and require less storage space.
The HEIC file extension uses efficient HEVC compression with video codec algorithms, resulting in smaller, high-quality, web-efficient files with better user experience.
HEIC versus AVIF Table Comparison
| Aspect/Factor | AVIF | HEIC |
| Transparency | Supports transparency | Supports transparency. |
| File Size | Smaller files compared to HEIC files. | Larger files than AVIF files. |
| Image Quality | Superb image quality than HEIC, supports 12-bit. | High-quality images, but only supports 10-bit depth. |
| Performance | Smaller and loads faster than HEIC on websites. | Smaller, but loads slightly slower online than AVIF. |
| Structure | Raster-based, and comprises nested boxes such as the File Type Box (ftyp) container, metadata, and actual image data. | Raster graphic comprising of comments and tags, image sequences (tracks), and EXIF/TIF files stored using indicators for display. |
| Animation | Supports animations | Supports still image animations or image sequences. |
| Storage | Requires less storage space than HEIC. | Requires slightly more storage space than AVIF. |
| Compression | Support lossy and lossless compression | Uses lossy and lossless compression |
| Browser Support | Wider browser support compared to HEIC. | Limited browser support compared to AVIF. |
Differences and similarities between AVIF and HEIC images
HEIC and AVIF are the next-generation image formats. When doing an AVIF versus HEIC analysis, it can be discovered that the formats are similar in compression, transparency, and animation support. They differ in image quality, file size, structure, browser support, storage needs, and performance.
Transparency
HEIC and AVIF enable data transparency at different image levels and support object representation in images with well-defined opacities. An AVIF image supports transparency through its alpha channels. The transparent backgrounds allow transparency data to be stored and supported alongside the lossy and lossless data.
HEIC files support alpha channel transparency like PNG files do. This is important in web design as it enables images, including graphics and logos, to merge seamlessly with the prevailing webpage backgrounds.
File Size
AVIF and HEIC can store rich multilayer metadata and data in a single file. AVIF supports a maximum image size of 65,535 x 65,535 pixels. HEIC’s maximum image dimensions can vary depending on implementation but are generally comparable. The file size variations depend on the compression efficiency of each format.
AVIF uses the advanced AV1 video codec, known for its high compression efficiency, while HEIC uses the HEVC (H.265) codec. AVIF generally offers better file size efficiency than HEIC, although the degree of improvement can vary. AVIF can compress files to smaller sizes while preserving all data.
Image Quality
AVIF images have a comparative advantage over HEIF images in terms of quality. HEIC format is ideal for Live images as it comprises image sequences, which allow users to store twice as many photos in the HEIC format using the same quality and size.
AVIF supports a maximum of 12 bits, while HEIC supports 10 bits. Besides, HEIC relies entirely on Chroma subsampling, while the default limit of AVIF is 8K and a 4:4:4 lossy compression. Both formats support a Wide Color Gamut, High Dynamic Range, and Standard Dynamic Range images such as Rec. 709.
Performance
HEIC and AVIF images are comparatively smaller than older formats like JPEG. AVIF’s AV1 video codec compression is more efficient than HEIC’s Highly Efficient Video Coding (HEVC) compression algorithms, often resulting in smaller file sizes. AVIF files load faster on websites than HEIC files, increasing online user experience and optimizing search engines.
Structure
AVIF and HEIC files are raster-based file formats. Nonetheless, the HEIC file’s structure specifies the storage of specific images, image sequences, and metadata in a container file compliant with the ISO Base Media File Format. It has Exif metadata with all the tags and comments supported by EXIF and TIFF.
HEIC uses an indicator to indicate whether the HEIC viewer must display the files as galleries or animations later. Its metadata are stored in EXIF/TIFF files and ISO Base Media File. From HEIC’s structure, it is apparent that the two file formats, AVIF and HEIC, are not easy to compare.
AVIF has nested boxes such as the File Type Box (ftyp), which identifies the file and specifies the format version used at the top-lying container or box. The ftyp container has extra boxes: The Item Properties (iprp), Item Location (iloc), and Media Data (mdat) boxes with varied metadata and real image info.
Animation
HEIC can store multiple images and metadata in a single file, allowing short animations to be created. It can also store image sequences, which can be played back as slideshows, lively content or short animations.
In contrast, AVIF file extensions support animation, animated content, and live photos using their multilayer image storage sequence. The file format is compatible with HEIF, which enables image sequences and elements to be used in AVIF or other image formats to create animations.
Storage
AVIF and HEIC files are significantly smaller and require less storage space on various storage mediums, including smartphones, file systems, tablets, personal computers, content delivery networks, ISO Base Media Files, and cloud storage. However, AVIF’s compression is generally more effective than HEIC’s. AVIF’s advanced and innovative AV1 compression technique often produces smaller files than HEIC’s HEVC compression.
Compression
AVIF and HEIC support lossy and lossless compression methods. The two image formats are derived from video codecs: HEVC and AV1. HEVC and AV1 use high-efficiency video coding algorithms to significantly reduce file sizes and help boost the space on mobile phones and memory cards.
When the two different compression techniques are used, HEIC images need only half the space of the same JPG image. In contrast, AVIF compression results in smaller, higher-quality images than HEIC images. The AVIF format is better than HEIC in quality and file size compression efficiency.
AVIF lossless and lossy techniques can compress images and make them ten times smaller compared to the standard JPG image, all while preserving image quality and info-rich details. As a result, compared to HEIC, AVIF is currently the newest, albeit the most advanced, and efficient video codec image compression.
Browser Support
AVIF and HEIC are the new file formats created in 2019 and 2017. While both formats are progressively becoming popular across different computing systems, platforms, web browsers, and applications, they still encounter compatibility issues.
HEIC, for example, is compatible and supported by Apple Safari, Google Workspace, and Google Marketplace. Its files and images are unsupported or incompatible with most old and new top web browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Vivaldi, Internet Explorer, Discord, and Brave.
Almost all the web mentioned above browsers are compatible with AVIF files and images except Internet Explorer. Thus, AVIF enjoys broader web browser support than HEIC, increasing its online adoption and usage.
Convert AVIF to HEIC or HEIC to AVIF
Both AVIF and HEIC promise wider applicability. However, convert AVIF to HEIC files using Convertjack to enjoy efficient HEIC image data compression using HEVC, which ensures smaller, high-quality images, adequate storage space, all-inclusive image metadata, and perfect web responsiveness.
Conversely, people prefer working with AVIF images because they are smaller and high-quality, reducing webpage loading times and increasing user experience. To convert your HIEC, use convertjack, an effective HEIC to AVIF converter.