Modern people often work with digital images of various formats. They are used on the Internet, on a computer, on a smartphone, in a digital camera, in action cameras and other devices. But there is one format that can confuse some users - BMP. This is not a very common type of image (at least in our time), but it can still be found. Therefore, it would be nice to understand what it is. Let's try to answer the question of what the BMP format is. But first, one would have to tell about the history of its occurrence. This will help to understand why it was created at all. So, let's start with the history of creating the BMP format.
Background
Around 1994, developers needed a new image format for use in software products. The criteria were set stringent. The format was supposed to work with a 256-color palette, have a sane size. Soon, the BMP format was introduced. This was a real breakthrough at the time. It was massively used almost everywhere. Even the Microsoft company that developed it.
However, years passed, and this format ceased to be in demand. There are much more advanced compression technologies. At the same time, the color quality of the new formats was much better. Now BMP is used only in some programs. And that, only in those whose developers did not "bother" on the interface, for example, the Windows OS. The BMP file is hopelessly outdated. But for some reason they are still using it. Now let's try to understand what kind of beast it is.
What is BMP?
BMP is a type of file for storing raster images. Only raster. Vector graphics are not for this format. A feature of this format is that it does not use any compression mechanism. Theoretically, it should provide the highest image quality. But the trouble is that the size of such an image will be simply gigantic. That is why this bitmap image format has lost popularity. BMP began to fall from Olympus after the advent of PNG. This format made it possible not only to preserve a high-quality image with a small size, but it was also possible to work with layers, which is very important in the modern world.
However, the BMP File still exists and is used. Therefore, it is important for users to know how to open such files and how to convert it to more convenient formats. We’ll discuss it now. It’s worth saying right away that there are a lot of such programs. And all of them are able to work adequately with this format, since it is quite old. But the conversion has its own nuances, which are worth mentioning.
How to open BMP
At the moment, a more or less advanced graphic file viewer can handle this task. Oddly enough, even the standard Windows viewer can open this format, albeit with terrible brakes. But best of all, the FS Image Viewer and ACDSee do the job. Advanced products such as Photoshop and Corel editors are also able to work with files of this format. In general, all modern viewers are able to read this format, since it is quite old.
However, all of the above applies only to operating systems of the Windows family. And how to open a BMP file in Linux or Mac OS? There are specialized software products that support this format. And there are a lot of them. So there will be no problems. And Mac OS also supports Photoshop, which is omnivorous. In addition to other multimedia programs.
Convert BMP
How to convert BMP to JPG or some other more familiar format? It all depends on what picture quality is required at the output. If losses should be minimal, then it is better to use "Photoshop" or something equivalent for these purposes. Only "Photoshop" allows you to save the image without loss of quality. And if you use PNG or PSD formats to save, you can also save layers. If quality does not matter, then you can use any converter. Almost all of them support conversion to JPEG, PNG, BMP and other popular formats.
And again, only programs under Windows were listed above. In Linux or Mac OS, conversion is a bit different. Apple’s system has Photoshop support, so quickly transferring a BMP image to another format without quality loss is not a problem. But in Linux you have to use a variety of converters, which are often not able to provide maximum quality.
What can this format be used for?
Although the BMP format is outdated morally, but it can still be used in some cases. It is enough that the whole Windows interface is based on this raster format. Why is that? Because using BMP is very convenient. It has good color and a complete lack of compression. Also, images in this format can be edited any number of times. And the quality will not suffer at all. Unlike the same JPEG. This explains the vitality of this format. Many Windows software developers also actively use BMP images in their products.
Another area of application of the format is the BIOS of computers. Some of them have very good pictures (they can include the manufacturer’s logo, some interface elements, etc.). All of them are made in BMP format. Raster images of such a plan perfectly show themselves in systems without an adequate graphical interface. Because they are used in BIOS.
The size
It is worth noting that a good picture in BMP format will "weigh" a lot. The thing is that this file format does not use compression. Therefore, the size cannot be reduced. For example, a high-quality photo with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels will have a size of about 300 megabytes. This is the feature of this format.
Internal structure and expansion
The structure of the BMP file can be described as follows: this is a single-layer image of a raster type with decent density and good color reproduction. This is the main drawback of the format - it cannot use additional layers. Therefore, they were supplanted in the "web" by more advanced formats that support layering.
Conclusion
So, we examined the old, but still in some places used BMP format. This is a raster image format that boasts the absence of any compression and compatibility with almost all programs, both viewers and editors. It can be used in modern programs to ensure the operation of the interface. And in the operating system "Windows" it is widely used to this day. Convert this format to any other is easy. To do this, there is a huge amount of appropriate software. And not only for Windows. In general, this format will still live, despite the emergence of more advanced and high-quality ones.