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

ARW vs BMP

Ein detaillierter Vergleich von Sony RAW ARW und BMP Image — Dateigröße, Qualität, Kompatibilität und welches je nach Workflow zu wählen ist.

ARW → BMP umwandeln

ARW

Sony RAW ARW

Raster & Vector Images

ARW is Sony Alpha RAW format for professional and mirrorless cameras.

Über ARW-Dateien

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.

Über BMP-Dateien

Vorteilsvergleich

ARW Vorteile

Full 14-bit sensor data on flagship bodies.
Rich Sony metadata (Creative Style, DRO, Focus Magnifier).
Supported by every major raw processor.
Lossless compression available on modern bodies.

BMP Vorteile

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.

Einschränkungen

ARW Einschränkungen

Proprietary — new Sony body launch = Lightroom update required.
Lossy compression was the only option on many older bodies (visible banding in highlights).
File sizes are huge on 50+ MP bodies.
Some ARW variants use 16-bit layout that breaks older third-party tools.

BMP Einschränkungen

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.

Technische Spezifikationen

Spezifikation	ARW	BMP
MIME type	image/x-sony-arw	image/bmp
Extension	.arw	—
Container	TIFF/EP with Sony MakerNote tags	—
Bit depth	14-bit (flagship); 12-bit (entry)	—
Compression	Uncompressed, Lossless, Lossy	None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare)
Extensions	—	.bmp, .dib
Color depths	—	1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel
Byte order	—	Little-endian

Typische Dateigrößen

ARW

24 MP ARW (A7 III, A7C) 25-45 MB
42 MP ARW (A7R III) 50-90 MB
61 MP ARW (A7R IV, A7R V) 75-130 MB

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

Bereit zum Umwandeln?

Wandle zwischen ARW und BMP online um, kostenlos und ohne Installation. Verschlüsselter Upload, automatische Löschung in 60 Minuten.

ARW zu BMP umwandeln

Häufig gestellte Fragen

ARW (Sony RAW ARW) is an image format used to store raster graphics — a two-dimensional grid of pixels describing a picture. It is part of the raster & vector images family and designed around a specific trade-off between file size, visual fidelity, and feature support (transparency, colour depth, compression type). Photographers, web designers, and content creators choose ARW when its particular strengths match the publishing target.

ARW (Sony RAW ARW) is an image formato used to store raster graphics — a two-dimensional grid of pixels describing a picture. It is part of the raster & vector images family e designed around a specific trade-off between tamanho do arquivo, visual fidelity, e feature support (transparency, colour depth, compressão type). Photographers, web designers, e content creators choose ARW when its particular strengths match the publishing target.

Most desktop photo viewers (Windows Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, Affinity Photo) open ARW natively. On mobile, iOS Photos and Google Photos display ARW in the gallery when supported by the OS. If the format is rare or new, convert to JPG or PNG first — both are universally readable — using our ARW to JPG or ARW to PNG converter.

Most desktop photo viewers (Windows Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, Affinity Photo) abrir ARW natively. On mobile, iOS Photos e Google Photos display ARW no gallery when suportado por the OS. If the formato is rare ou new, converter to JPG ou PNG first — both are universally readable — usando our ARW to JPG ou ARW to PNG converter.

Upload the ARW to KaijuConverter and pick a target format (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, SVG, PDF). The conversion runs in the browser via ImageMagick and returns a download in seconds. No account or installation required; both input and output delete automatically within two hours.

It depends on the task. JPG is the smallest file size for photographs; PNG is lossless with transparency; ARW has its own niche that may favour colour depth, animation, or encoding efficiency over one or both of those. For the final web publish, test all three and measure file size plus visible quality on real content.