BMP vs JPG
A detailed comparison of BMP Image and JPEG Image — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
BMP Image
Raster & Vector ImagesBMP 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 filesJPEG Image
Raster & Vector ImagesJPEG is the most widely used lossy image format on the web. It achieves small file sizes through adjustable compression, making it ideal for photographs and complex images where some quality loss is acceptable.
About JPG filesStrengths 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.
JPG Strengths
- Excellent compression ratio for photographs (10:1 or better without visible quality loss).
- Universal support — every camera, phone, OS, and browser reads JPEG natively.
- Adjustable quality setting balances file size against visual fidelity.
- Embeds EXIF metadata (camera model, GPS, exposure) automatically.
- Progressive rendering for graceful loading over 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.
JPG Limitations
- Lossy — every save degrades the image further (generation loss).
- No transparency channel (use PNG or WebP for that).
- Visible compression artifacts on text, sharp edges, and flat colors.
- Limited to 8 bits per channel — poor for HDR or print work.
- Baseline JPEG tops out at 65,535 × 65,535 pixels.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | BMP | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | image/bmp | image/jpeg |
| Extensions | .bmp, .dib | — |
| Compression | None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare) | Lossy — Discrete Cosine Transform + quantization + Huffman coding |
| Color depths | 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel | — |
| Byte order | Little-endian | — |
| Color depth | — | 8 bits per channel (24-bit RGB or 8-bit grayscale) |
| Max dimensions | — | 65,535 × 65,535 pixels (baseline) |
| Transparency | — | Not supported |
| Typical quality | — | 75–90 for web, 95+ for print |
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
JPG
- Phone photo (12 MP, quality 85) 2–5 MB
- Web thumbnail (400px) 20–60 KB
- Full-page magazine photo 500 KB – 2 MB
- Social-media square (1080×1080) 100–400 KB
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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.
JPG (JPEG) is the most widely used image format, developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group in 1992. It uses lossy compression to achieve small file sizes, making it the standard for digital photography, web images, and social media.
BMP files open in Windows Paint, Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, and virtually any image viewer. All Windows applications support BMP natively.
JPG files can be opened by virtually any image viewer or editor, including Windows Photos, macOS Preview, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, and all web browsers.
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.
Use JPG for photographs and complex images where small file size matters. Use PNG when you need transparency, sharp text, or lossless quality such as logos, screenshots, and graphics with flat colors.