What are heif and heic?
Just recently, Apple adopted a new file format for taking photos on its devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod). Called HEIF, it stands for High Efficiency Image File Format, and was developed by Moving Picture Experts Group, which is widely known as MPEG. Its file extensions are .HEIF and .HEIC..
These images encoded the same technique as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec / Compression, which stands for High Efficiency Video Compression), which suggests that photos taken in this new format have better quality and are much lighter. Indeed, it inherited the same codecs and allow the generation of compressed and uncompressed digital images.
Moving Picture Experts Group started defining the needs and main use cases for a new image format in 2013. Then, after about a year and a half of research and technical development of its specifications, there is was finalized in summer 2015..
The heif format is used to store:
- Files relating to shooting information.
- Single or multiple images with thumbnails corresponding to the master shot.
- A sequence of animated images, with the possibility of placing a video (type Live Photos).
- A sequence of moving images (cinemographs, bursts).
- A sequence of “bracketed” images (focus, exposure).
- Raw (uncompressed) images accompanied by the processed image.
- Variations around the same master shot, like so many “virtual copies” of a basic image, for Lightroom regulars.
- Data relating to the Alpha layer (transparency) or the depth of field.
- Possibility to include synchronized text / audio files for each image.
- 16-bit encoding.
What is the difference between heif / heic and jpeg / jpg?
The jpg / jpeg photo format has been in use for at least 30 years all over the world and has had a huge influence in the world of photography and image editing. But why did MEPG decide to develop a new file format for images? So what is the difference between them?
Obviously as technology advances and the needs of users grew, many began to feel the need for better visual support for their memories, for their jobs, for their studies, or for many other reasons.
In many ways heic has quite a few peculiarities, making it more attractive than jpg which is still widely used on a global scale today. Let's see what makes them different:
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The precision of the photos taken. The jpeg format works with 4 x 4 px block images, while the heif is able to work with blocks up to 64 x 64 px..
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Sub-sampling. The jpeg format stops at 4: 2: 0 at 8-bit color depth, while heif is capable of going up to 4: 4: 4 at 16-bit. (An 8-bit image is made up of a palette of just under 16.3 million colors while a 16-bit image can have up to 281 trillion shades.)
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The zoom. Since the heic image quality is much better, you can zoom much sharper than with jpg or get to a certain extent the photo becomes blurry.
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Image style. Heif can combine moving images and still images (Live photos, gifs), and even embed an audio file. Jpeg when he can only produce still photos.
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Modification without loss of quality. Variations or virtual copies of the same file on heif allows you to modify images (rotate, crop, crop) without degrading the quality of the image, which is sometimes still a big problem with photos in jpeg format.
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Protecting the file. Heif can preserve information on multiple layers like transparency (thus saving space) or depth of field, which jpeg cannot do.
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The weight. On an identical photo taken, the heif format would be twice as light as the jpeg format.
What are the advantages of heic?
As mentioned earlier, this new format is much lighter and much better. But what can this mean for you? Let's see in detail the different advantages that this novelty can bring you:
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The heic images being significantly less heavy than any format, it can double the available space of the storage drive, whether physical, local or in a cloud. Eh yes ! You can take more photos without worrying about the space remaining in your virtual memory.
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As it saves transfer speed, it can help you save bandwidth.
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This new format also brings a lot of advantage in terms of image modifications. Indeed, some parameters have already been precomputed:
- The size (Definition). In order to be able to display directly on the definition screen the image which was taken, and to prevent the device from carrying out a certain number of calculations. Different sizes of images are available, both large and thumbnails.
- Orientation. 90⁰, 180⁰ or 270⁰ rotation available.
- Cropping. Already precomputed cropped photo available, without loss of base image.
- In the case of taking a burst or several variations of the same image, the new encoding method of this format is designed so that the heif does not need to store all of the differences in images, it only keeps in memory the variations from one image to another. This option allows to save a very large space of the memory of your device (iPhone / iPad / iPod).
Which Apple devices support heic?
As heif is a format that appeared not so long ago, it is not yet available on all devices that exist in the world, as is the case with jpeg. It is therefore important to know which devices can use it and from which system.
As this heic is automatically integrated from the new iOS 11 update on Apple devices, all devices ideally compatible with this system can support the heif format.
Here is the list of compatible devices:
- iPhone 5S / SE / 6/6 Plus / 6S / 6S Plus / 7/7 Plus
- iPad mini 2/3/4
- iPad Air / iPad Air 2
- iPad (fifth generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (first and second generation)
- iPad Pro 9.7-inch
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch
- iPod Touch (sixth generation)
Knowing which iPhones, iPads and iPods are compatible with this format, you will be able to know which device to choose in order to be able to capture beautiful photos.
This great image format will improve the lives of many, indeed its various advantages will allow you to have: better memories with all your loved ones, more beautiful shots during your travels, more precise captures for professional use or school, more ease and precision when modifying image, etc.
But it's not easy to convert photos to Heic format, here we recommend two professional software: FonePaw Free HEIC Converter (opens new window) and FonePaw DoTrans (opens new window) , which allow you to convert HEIC photos to JPG / PNG if your iPhone is iPhone X, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus running iOS 11.
