Google has recently announced that it will remove support for the JPEG-XL image format from its Chromium browser project, citing a lack of interest and benefits from the web ecosystem. However, this move has been criticized by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as a sign of Google’s “predatory” self-interest.
FSF argues that JPEG-XL is a potential new standard that could offer better quality and performance than existing formats.
JPEG-XL is a modern image format that was finalized in late 2020 by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), the same organization that created the original JPEG format. JPEG-XL is based on Google’s own PIK technology, which was developed as an open source project. JPEG-XL claims to reduce storage and bandwidth costs while providing higher quality and more features than legacy JPEG, such as lossless compression, animation, transparency, and responsive web design.
However, Google decided to deprecate the experimental code and flag for JPEG-XL in Chromium, which also powers Microsoft’s Edge browser. On that page, an engineer explains “There is not enough interest from the entire ecosystem to continue experimenting with JPEG XL”.
It is Unclear How Google Gauges Interest
Greg Farough, campaigns manager at FSF, said that Google’s argument about the lack of interest from the ecosystem is flawed, since Google itself dominates the browser market with around 80 percent of worldwide usage share. Farough said that “in supposedly gauging what the ‘ecosystem’ wants, all Google is really doing is asking itself what Google wants”. He also pointed out that Google has its own patented image format, AVIF, which competes with JPEG-XL and is supported by Android 12, macOS 13, iOS 16, and some browsers.
“While we can’t link to Google’s issue tracker directly because of another freedom issue — its use of nonfree JavaScript — we’re told that the issue regarding JPEG-XL’s removal is the second-most “starred” issue in the history of the Chromium project, the nominally free basis for the Google Chrome browser. Chromium users came out of the woodwork to plead with Google not to make this decision. It made it anyway, not bothering to respond to users’ concerns. We’re not sure what metric it’s using to gauge the interest of the “entire ecosystem,” but it seems users have given JPEG-XL a strong show of support.”
Tip of the day: Did you know that you can assign keyboard shortcuts for starting applications quickly in Windows 11 and Windows 10? This is a great way to have your most used programs always at your fingertips. In our tutorials we show you how to set those hotkeys for your favorite apps.
