PCX vs PNG
Una comparativa detallada de PCX Image y PNG Image — tamaño de archivo, calidad, compatibilidad y cuál elegir según tu flujo de trabajo.
PCX Image
Raster & Vector ImagesPCX (PiCture eXchange) is a legacy raster image format created by ZSoft for their PC Paintbrush program. It was one of the first widely supported image formats on IBM PC compatibles and uses simple run-length encoding compression.
Sobre los archivos PCXPNG Image
Raster & Vector ImagesPNG is a lossless image format that supports transparency. It is ideal for graphics, logos, screenshots, and any image where preserving exact pixel data is important.
Sobre los archivos PNGComparativa de ventajas
PCX Ventajas
- Simple format — easy to parse in any language.
- RLE compression keeps flat-color images compact.
- Historic archive format for 1985-1995 PC art.
- Stable since 1985 with no breaking changes.
PNG Ventajas
- Lossless compression — every save preserves the original pixels perfectly.
- Full 8-bit alpha channel for smooth transparency.
- Excellent for text, UI screenshots, logos, and line art.
- Royalty-free and an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 15948).
- Supports 16-bit color depth for high-fidelity work.
Limitaciones
PCX Limitaciones
- Legacy — no new content created as PCX in 2026.
- Inefficient for photographs (RLE is wrong algorithm).
- Limited to 24-bit color depth.
- Web browsers do not display PCX.
PNG Limitaciones
- Much larger than JPEG for photographs (no perceptual compression).
- No native animation in most software (APNG support is inconsistent).
- No CMYK support — web and screen only, not print.
- Metadata capabilities are less rich than JPEG's EXIF.
Especificaciones técnicas
| Especificación | PCX | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | image/x-pcx | image/png |
| Extension | .pcx | — |
| Header | 128 bytes fixed | — |
| Compression | Run-Length Encoding (RLE) | Lossless — DEFLATE (zlib) |
| Creator | ZSoft Corporation (1985) | — |
| Color depth | — | 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 bits per channel |
| Max dimensions | — | 2^31 − 1 pixels per side (2.1 billion) |
| Transparency | — | Full 8-bit alpha channel |
| Standard | — | ISO/IEC 15948:2004 |
Tamaños típicos de archivo
PCX
- Simple clipart 2-40 KB
- VGA-era screenshot (320×200) 30-80 KB
- Scanned page 200 KB - 2 MB
PNG
- Icon or small logo 2–20 KB
- UI screenshot (1920×1080) 200–800 KB
- High-res photo (12 MP) 10–30 MB
- Print-ready illustration 5–50 MB
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Preguntas frecuentes
PCX (PCX Image) 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 PCX when its particular strengths match the publishing target.
PCX (PCX Image) 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 PCX when its particular strengths match the publishing target.
Most desktop photo viewers (Windows Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, Affinity Photo) open PCX natively. On mobile, iOS Photos and Google Photos display PCX 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 PCX to JPG or PCX to PNG converter.
Most desktop photo viewers (Windows Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, Affinity Photo) abrir PCX natively. On mobile, iOS Photos e Google Photos display PCX 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 PCX to JPG ou PCX to PNG converter.
Upload the PCX 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; PCX 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.