Message-Id: <mailto:199507171313.IAA05217@library.wustl.edu> Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 09:07:42 -0400 From: Pamela Mason <mailto:pmason@ENH.NIST.GOV> Subject: GIF inline images in WWW pages To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
I have been doing some reading on browser support of GIF images and there seems to be a lot of advice (which I think may be erroneous) that if one uses fewer colors in a GIF image for inline display the file will be smaller. Other sources seem to indicate that after about 5 or 6 images are displayed by a browser, the "colors are used up" and no more images can be displayed on the page. My understanding of GIF files is that they are all 8-bit, 256 color images, meaning that a maximum of 256 colors *can* be displayed, not that these are always present. In fact, if one saves a bitonal image of text as a GIF file, it is saved as 8-bit color, even though what is displayed is only black and white. What affects the file size in GIF files, since they are all 8-bit color, is resolution and the image's dimensions.My question is this-- is this browse infomation incorrect, as I believe it to be, or are browser displays different than typical viewers such as LView or WinGIf? I have also heard that some browsers limit the number of colors they can display to 8, but that affects only the display, not the size of the GIF file. If this is true, then I suppose if one created an image with more colors in it, they simply would not display, not act as though the colors were "used up".
Comments and hard information appreciated. Best, Pamela
Pamela Mason, Chief Electronic Information Program National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Office of Information Services, E-106 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 PH: (301) 975-4465 FAX: (301) 869-8071 Internet: mailto:pmason@enh.nist.gov