Why WebP is the Future of Web Images
WebP was developed by Google as a modern replacement for older image formats. It uses advanced compression techniques derived from VP8 video compression to achieve significantly smaller file sizes while maintaining visual quality.
WebP Features
- Lossy compression - 25-35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality
- Lossless compression - 26% smaller than PNG on average
- Transparency support - Alpha channel support like PNG
- Animation support - Can replace animated GIFs with much smaller files
When to Use WebP
WebP is ideal for:
- All web images - Best overall format for websites
- Photos and graphics - Handles both types well
- Images with transparency - Smaller than PNG with alpha
- Animations - Much smaller than GIF with better quality
WebP Browser Support
WebP enjoys excellent browser support:
- Chrome 17+ (2012)
- Firefox 65+ (2019)
- Safari 14+ (2020)
- Edge 18+ (2018)
This covers over 97% of web users. For the remaining users, consider using the HTML picture element with JPEG/PNG fallbacks.