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

BMP vs TS

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

Convert TS → 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

MPEG Transport Stream

Video Files

TS (Transport Stream) is used for broadcasting, streaming, and recording live TV.

About TS 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.

TS Strengths

Designed for noisy channels — packet-level error correction.
Multi-program: one TS can carry several TV channels.
Native format for all digital TV broadcasts and HLS streaming.
Streaming-first: no need to download whole file to start playing.
30+ years of stable, deployed infrastructure.

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.

TS Limitations

Packet overhead (~3% vs Program Stream).
Seek index is implicit — requires scanning for random access.
Multiple audio/subtitle selection requires parsing PMT (Program Map Tables).
fMP4 is gradually replacing TS for modern low-latency streaming.

Technical Specifications

Specification	BMP	TS
MIME type	image/bmp	video/mp2t
Extensions	.bmp, .dib	.ts, .m2ts, .mts
Compression	None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare)	—
Color depths	1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel	—
Byte order	Little-endian	—
Standard	—	ISO/IEC 13818-1 (MPEG-2 Systems)
Packet size	—	188 bytes (standard); 192 bytes (M2TS/Blu-ray)
Primary use	—	Broadcast TV + HLS streaming

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

TS

HLS video segment (6 seconds, 1080p) 2-5 MB
1 hour recorded TV (HD) 4-8 GB
Satellite transponder capture (1 min) ~300 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.