BMP and GIF are among the first file types in image format history. Since each format offers incomparable technical features, choosing the best file type between GIF and BMP can be tricky and necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their inbuilt capabilities.
This article highlights and discusses the features of BMP vs. GIF, including compression technique, web browser support, image quality, file size, animation and transparency support, performance, storage needs, and structure.
When is GIF better than BMP?
GIF images are universally supported by all modern and older web browsers and social media platforms, while BMP images are incompatible with certain browsers, including IE 6, which require additional plug-ins or extensions to be supported.
GIF file extension is ideal for creating animations and lively contents on different devices, allowing web developers, graphic designers, and other users to deliver a better user experience. GIF files can be used to design simple logos and web graphics with sharp edges, lines, and limited colors.
When is BMP better than GIF?
The BMP images are high-resolution and high-quality because they support more color profiles with higher bit depths, while GIF images are low-resolution and low-quality owing to their limited color support and lower bit depths.
This makes the BMP file format versatile for medical imaging, web designs, and web graphics creation. Unlike GIF format, BMP file format is detailed, preserves all data with lossless compression, and has a simple multilayered structure for easy editing and manipulation.
BMP versus GIF Comparison Table
| Variable/Factor | BMP | GIF |
| Transparency | Does not support transparency. | Supports transparency. |
| File Size | Smaller files compared to GIF files. | Larger files compared to BMP files. |
| Image Quality | Higher quality images than GIF. | Low-quality images than BMP images. |
| Performance | Load faster on websites than GIF. | Load slower on websites than BMP. |
| Structure | Raster-based: Has a header, information header, color table, and pixel data. | Raster-based: Has a header, color table blocks, screen descriptor, and a trailer block. |
| Animation | Does not support animation. | Supports animations and lively content. |
| Storage | Needs less storage space compared to GIF. | Needs more storage space compared to BMP. |
| Compression | Supports lossless compression with RLE. | Supports lossless compression with LZW algorithms. |
| Browser Support | Wider browser support. | Supported by all web browsers. |
Differences and similarities between GIF and BMP images
A BMP versus GIF analysis finds that the formats are similar in lossless compression. However, they significantly differ in file size, image quality, animation and transparency support, storage demands, web browser support, performance, and structure.
Transparency
BMP does not support transparency, while GIF does. BMP file extensions inherently lack support layers or advanced features that enable transparency. In contrast, GIF through GIF89a format supports alpha channel transparency, allowing one of the palette colors to be ignored and visibly arranged. Its alpha channel simultaneously processes the image to be displayed on a device and its transparent backgrounds, offering such images a professional appearance.
File Size
The BMP files are smaller than GIF files. While BMP file sizes depend largely on the format version, a GIF's file size is based on the number of individual files pooled together (multilayers), each with 2-3MB. Thus, multiple GIFs are larger than BMP files and lossless compression cannot minimize their size.
Image Quality
BMP is a high-quality, high-resolution format, while GIF is a low-resolution, low-quality file type. BMP supports simple 1-bit monochrome images and 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, and 24-bit true color per channel images, whereas GIF supports only 8-bit RGB color depths per channel.
Although GIF only supports RGB color space, BMP supports RGB, monochrome, and ICC color profiles, making its files high-quality. Both formats ensure all image details are preserved using lossless compression. They do not encounter any compression artifacts, giving BMP an edge over GIF regarding image quality.
Performance
GIF stores multiple single files, each with a size limit of 2-3MB. Merging many GIF files makes them relatively larger than BMP files. Thus, GIFs need more bytes and take more time to upload or download on websites than BMPs. BMP is highly web-responsive, optimizes search engines, and enhances user experience.
Structure
BMP and GIF are bitmapped file types, although their structures differ, making them easier to compare. BMP stores bitmap digital images independently based on display devices like graphics adapters. BMP's structure starts with a header, then an information header and color table, and ends with pixel data.
A BMP file header comprises file type, size, and the Device-free bitmap file layout. The BMP data header stipulates the file's color format, compression technique, and dimensions. Its color table has various bitmap elements, including colors, in a single BMP file.
On the other hand, GIF file format starts with a fixed-length header such as GIF89a or GIF87a. The file offers the logical screen descriptor and file version with fixed length but specifies more GIF features and the logical screen scales in pixels.
Its logical screen checks if the Global Color Table and size description exist. It then divides into unlike segments led by a one-byte guard with an image, extension block, and trailer. Its image module starts with a fixed-length picture descriptor followed by image data having one byte with the unencoded icon width.
Animation
BMP files do not support animations, whereas GIF files do. GIFs can be used to create basic animation since they are easily injectable, allowing a quick and pleasant iterative update cycle. The specifications of GIF89a add enhancers to a GIF file header and allow browsers to display GIF pictures in a looped series.
In contrast, while BMP hardly supports animations, its digital bitmap images allow editing and manipulation, making them apt for creating animations in other file formats. Its file pixels may have specific color values used to create lively content in such formats.
Storage
GIF and BMP file extensions preserve all image data with lossless compression. However, GIF stores multilayered files, each with a size limit between 2-3MB, while BMP stores smaller and individual files. Thus, pooling together different GIF files makes them larger than BMP images.
As such, GIF files use more bytes and need more memory or storage space than BMPs. However, regardless of their file sizes, BMP and GIF files can last indefinitely with proper handling and good storage mediums, including Hard Drives, Cloud, Base64 Encoding, Content Delivery Networks, and File Systems.
Compression
GIF and BMP file types support lossless compression but differ only in the algorithms used. For instance, BMP uses lossless compression with a run-length encoding (RLE) algorithm to compress 4-bit and 8-bit bitmaps, preserving all image details and making its files higher quality.
BMP file compression is either encoded or absolute. During encoded compression, the first byte specifies the number of successive pixels to be drawn using the color index contained in the second byte. Conversely, in the absolute mode, the first byte must be zero, while the next is a value between 03H and FFH.
In contrast, GIF compresses files using lossless compression with the Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) algorithms, preserving all image data. However, its compressed files are multilayered and larger than BMP files.
Its LZW algorithms compress images by changing color space, fusing local palettes, swapping alpha channels, spatially predicting pixels, and integrating many pixels in a single pixel. Hence, GIF's LZW utilizes repeated image data streams to resourcefully store basic graphical images using flat colors.
Browser Support
BMP and GIF formats enjoy universal support and compatibility across new and legacy email and web browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Samsung Internet, Mozilla Firefox, Discord, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Vivaldi, and Brave.
Besides, all versions of Internet Explorer support GIF, although BMP images or files are incompatible or unsupported by Internet Explorer 6. While IE6 is incompatible with BMP files and images, added features make the browser compatible with the file format.
Convert GIF to BMP or BMP to GIF
Convertjack is user-friendly and promptly helps users convert GIF to BMP. BMP files are ideal for medical imaging because they are detailed, precise, data-rich, and preserve all image details with lossless compression.
Users prefer Convertjack to other file conversion tools because it is the latest and most efficient BMP to GIF converter. GIF is preferred to BMP because it supports animation and transparency, is smaller, consumes fewer bytes, and is highly web-efficient compared to BMP.