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BMP vs JPEG

BMP vs JPEG

A detailed comparison of BMP Image and JPEG Image — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.

Convert JPEG → BMP
BMP

BMP Image

Raster & Vector Images

BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. Files are large but preserve exact pixel data with no compression artifacts. Rarely used on the web due to file size.

About BMP files
JPEG

JPEG Image

Raster & Vector Images

JPEG alternate extension. Functionally identical to JPG but uses the four-letter extension. Some older systems and cameras produce files with this extension.

About JPEG files

Strengths Comparison

BMP Strengths

  • Dead-simple format — trivially easy to read and write.
  • Lossless and uncompressed — perfect bit-exact pixel storage.
  • Universally supported in Windows applications since 1985.
  • Supports 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit color depths.

JPEG Strengths

  • Universally supported — every camera, browser, OS, and editor reads JPEG.
  • Mature, deterministic, and fast to encode/decode.
  • Small file sizes for photographs — DCT compression shines on continuous-tone imagery.
  • Rich metadata ecosystem (EXIF for shooting data, XMP for editing, IPTC for captions).
  • Progressive variant enables perceived faster loading on slow networks.

Limitations

BMP Limitations

  • Enormous file sizes — no meaningful compression in typical use.
  • Not a web format — browsers support it but nobody serves BMPs over HTTP.
  • No metadata support (no EXIF, no ICC profile in practice).
  • Multiple header versions mean "a BMP" is ambiguous — parsers must handle several variants.

JPEG Limitations

  • Lossy by design — every save further degrades quality ("generation loss").
  • No transparency channel. Logos and UI elements belong in PNG or WebP.
  • Terrible on flat colors, text, and sharp edges — blocking artifacts are visible.
  • Limited to 8-bit color — HDR and wide gamut need JPEG XL or AVIF.
  • Twice the size of WebP and 30-50% bigger than AVIF at comparable quality.

Technical Specifications

Specification BMP JPEG
MIME type image/bmp image/jpeg
Extensions .bmp, .dib —
Compression None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare) Lossy DCT (baseline); lossless mode exists but rarely used
Color depths 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel —
Byte order Little-endian —
File extensions — .jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif
Standard — ITU-T T.81 / ISO/IEC 10918-1:1994
Color depth — 8-bit per channel (24-bit RGB total)
Max dimensions — 65 535 × 65 535 px

Typical File Sizes

BMP

  • Small icon (32×32) 4 KB
  • Screenshot (1920×1080) ~6 MB
  • 4K image (3840×2160) ~25 MB
  • Scanned A4 at 300 dpi ~25 MB

JPEG

  • Thumbnail (400px) 20-60 KB
  • Web photo (1920px) 200-500 KB
  • Print-quality photo (3000px) 1-4 MB
  • DSLR JPEG (24 MP, quality 95) 6-12 MB

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Frequently Asked Questions

BMP (Bitmap) is a raster image format developed by Microsoft for Windows. It stores images with no compression by default, resulting in large file sizes but pixel-perfect quality. It has been part of Windows since version 1.0.

BMP (Bitmap) is a raster image formato developed by Microsoft para Windows. It stores images com no compressão by default, resulting in large tamanho do arquivos mas pixel-perfect quality. It has been part of Windows since version 1.0.

BMP files open in Windows Paint, Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, and virtually any image viewer. All Windows applications support BMP natively.

BMP arquivos abrir in Windows Paint, Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, e virtually any image viewer. All Windows aplicativos support BMP natively.

PNG is better than BMP in almost every scenario since it provides lossless compression (smaller files), transparency support, and wider cross-platform use. BMP is mainly relevant for legacy Windows applications.

PNG is melhor que BMP in almost every scenario since it fornece sem perdas compressão (smaller files), transparência support, e wider cross-platform use. BMP is mainly relevant para legacy Windows aplicativos.