PNG

• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
• Lossless format
• PNG is not patented by anybody so no royalty is paid.
• Like GIF but also:
• Truecolor images of up to 48 bits per pixel
• Grayscale images of up to 16 bits per pixel
• Full alpha channel (general transparency masks)
• Image gamma information, which supports automatic display of images with correct brightness/contrast regardless of the machines used to originate and display the image.
• Faster initial presentation in progressive display mode
• Reliable, straightforward detection of file corruption
• Allows for future extensions and private add-ons

Find out more about PNG on PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Home Page