WebP is a new image format introduced by Google in 2010, aiming to reduce file size while maintaining the same image quality as JPEG. Traditional web pages using JPEG or PNG formats often experience significant loading delays from image resources. The primary advantage of WebP over other image formats lies in its ability to minimize image volume without compromising visual quality.
This document outlines the advantages and disadvantages of WebP format and the enhanced user experience achieved through its application.
Advantages of WebP
Consider the following image comparison:
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Compared with PNG format, WebP offers:
- Superior image compression algorithms that significantly reduce file size while maintaining indistinguishable visual quality.
- Support for Alpha transparency and 24-bit color depth, eliminating PNG8's color limitation and jagged edge issues.
- 80%-90% smaller file size than equivalent PNG format, improving page load speed, reducing storage requirements, and accelerating website graphics performance.
Disadvantages of WebP
WebP encoding time is "8 times longer than JPEG format". Consequently, generating raster tiles in WebP format requires more time compared to other formats under identical conditions.
WebP Performance Comparison
SuperMap Desktop supports generating WebP-format raster tiles, particularly effective for 3D scene caches that maintain data quality while dramatically reducing data volume. Widely adopted in mobile and web applications, WebP-format web pages enhance loading and rendering speeds (when compatibility is not a concern), conserving user bandwidth and improving access efficiency.
To evaluate WebP-format raster tile performance, we generated tiles from identical map data in both JPG_PNG and WebP formats under equivalent conditions (original storage type, identical tiling ranges, scales, and parameters).
Key findings include:
- Time Cost Comparison: WebP tile generation took 117.86% longer than JPG_PNG under identical conditions.
- File Size Comparison: WebP-format raster caches were 67.24% smaller than JPG_PNG equivalents.
- Read Speed Comparison: WebP images demonstrated 40% faster average read speeds. Specific benchmarks:
- 1,000 reads: WebP 1.1s vs JPG_PNG 1.8s (39% faster)
- 10,000 reads: WebP 10s vs JPG_PNG 19s (47% faster)
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SuperMap Desktop natively supports WebP-format tiles and enables publishing WebP tiles as iServer services. Below shows browser comparisons of world map tiles published through iServer (23 tiles at specific scale):
- PNG total size: 751.91KB
- WebP total size: 137.3KB
WebP achieved 80% volume reduction compared to PNG, accelerating page loading and reducing storage demands.
Although WebP introduces additional decoding time, its reduced file size shortens loading duration and accelerates page rendering. As image quantities increase, WebP's loading speed advantage over PNG becomes more pronounced, delivering perceptible performance improvements for end users.
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