Image File Types

Animated GIF Files

An animated GIF is a sequence of GIF files all bonded together and displayed on after the other.

JPEG Files

A JPEG files uses much more complex technique to compress images, like photographs, where the colour of every pixel is different

GIF Files

In a GIF Image, the number of colours is reduced to 256 and then "runs" of the same-colour pixels are encoded in a colour+numberOfPixels format

MPEG Files

An MPEG file uses a complex algorithm like a JPEG file does-it tries to eliminate repetition between frames to significantly compress video information

Shockwave Files

Shockwave provides a vector-based animation capability. Instead of specifying the colour of every pixel, a Shockwave file specifies the coordiantes of shapes as well as the colour of each shape

Vector Based Image vs Bitmap Based Image

Then, there are NxFiles. These are vector-based 3D files that allow user interaction. You can rotate and zoom in on a 3D object in any way you like. Bitmap images have to define the colour of each and every pixel