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

BMP vs VOB

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

Convert VOB → 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

VOB

DVD Video Object

Video Files

VOB (Video Object) is the container format for DVD video content.

About VOB 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.

VOB Strengths

Universal DVD support on every player ever made.
Carries multiple audio tracks, subtitles, and menus in one container.
Mature tooling ecosystem for extraction and editing.

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.

VOB Limitations

Hard 1 GB file-size cap forces multi-file splits.
MPEG-2 compression is 2-3× larger than modern codecs.
Tied to CSS copy protection — decryption was once illegal.
Disc-era format; streaming replaced DVDs for most users.

Technical Specifications

Specification	BMP	VOB
MIME type	image/bmp	video/dvd
Extensions	.bmp, .dib	—
Compression	None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare)	—
Color depths	1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel	—
Byte order	Little-endian	—
Extension	—	.vob
Container	—	MPEG-2 Program Stream with DVD extensions
Video codec	—	MPEG-2
Audio codecs	—	AC-3, DTS, MPEG audio, LPCM

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

VOB

Single VOB segment ~1 GB (capped)
2-hour DVD movie (full VIDEO_TS) 4-7 GB

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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.