BMP vs TGA — Differences, File Size & When to Use Each

BMP vs TGA

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

Convert BMP → TGA Convert TGA → 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

TGA

TGA Image

Raster & Vector Images

TGA (Targa) is a raster graphics format used in game development and video editing.

About TGA 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.

TGA Strengths

Extremely simple — trivially easy to read and write.
Lossless with optional RLE compression.
Supports 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit color with alpha channel.
Universal in legacy game development and 3D rendering pipelines.

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.

TGA Limitations

No metadata, no color profile, no gamma correction.
Aging — PNG and EXR cover its use cases with better compression.
Bottom-up pixel order trips up newcomer parsers.
Not a web format — browsers don't display TGA natively.

Technical Specifications

Specification	BMP	TGA
MIME type	image/bmp	image/x-targa
Extensions	.bmp, .dib	.tga, .icb, .vda, .vst
Compression	None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare)	None or Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
Color depths	1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel	—
Byte order	Little-endian	Little-endian
Bit depths	—	8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel

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

TGA

512×512 game texture (uncompressed) ~768 KB
2K render output (uncompressed) ~12 MB
4K render with alpha (RLE) 20-40 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.