High Efficiency Image File Format

High Efficiency Image File Format is a container format developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). The format has several variants and supports individual or sequences of images.

See the reference side-by-side comparison Common image file formats

	HEIF
Developed by	MPEG
Year	2015
Pros
Cons	Limited support yet Patent-encumbered
Features
Vector graphics	No
Raster image	Yes
Lossless	Yes Lossless and lossy
Animation support	Yes
Transparency support	Yes
Layers support	No
HDR	Yes
Maximum bit depth	8-bit (HEIC) up to 16-bit (HEIX)
CMYK support (for print)	No
Maximum number of channels
Commonly used for	Apple iPhone photos
Browser support (without plugin)
Google Chrome	- AVIF
Microsoft Edge	No
Safari	No
Firefox	No
Opera	No
Internet Explorer	No
Additional
File extensions	.heif .heifs
Wikipedia	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format