Why AVIF is the Future of Image Compression

November 25, 2025 API: gemini2025 tutorials

Why AVIF is the Future of Image Compression

Image compression has come a long way over the past two decades. From JPEG in the late 90s, to PNG for transparency, to WebP in the 2010s, each new format tried to balance size and quality. But in 2025, one format has clearly emerged as the new standard for high-efficiency image storage: AVIF.

AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is built on the AV1 video codec, which was developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and many others. Its design is modern, flexible, and extremely efficient, giving it massive advantages over traditional formats.

Whether you're a photographer, developer, cloud user, or someone paying monthly for storage, AVIF is a format you should understand. Here's why AVIF is rapidly becoming the future of image compression.

1. AVIF Provides Drastically Better Compression

The biggest advantage of AVIF is simple:

AVIF files are 40–80% smaller than JPEG while delivering equal or better visual quality.

In side-by-side comparisons:

  • JPEG at 1.2MB - AVIF at only 300–500KB - Visually identical or even sharper
This is possible because AV1 uses advanced compression techniques like:
  • Chroma subsampling optimizations - Better handling of smooth gradients - Higher bit-depth support (10-bit, 12-bit) - Improved artifact reduction
For cloud users paying for storage, this size reduction matters. Converting a large photo library to AVIF can save gigabytes, even terabytes, instantly.

2. AVIF Handles High Dynamic Range and 10-bit Color

JPEG is limited to 8-bit color, which often results in:

  • Banding in gradients - Poor handling of bright skies and sunsets - Lossy detail in shadows
AVIF supports:
  • 10-bit and 12-bit color depth - Wide color gamut - High Dynamic Range (HDR)
This makes AVIF perfect for modern photography, smartphones, and displays. Whether you're storing RAW previews or preserving high-quality edits, AVIF keeps significantly more detail than older formats.

3. AVIF Supports Both Lossy and Lossless Modes

AVIF gives you full control:

  • Lossy AVIF: Super small files with excellent visual quality - Lossless AVIF: Perfect preservation with significantly reduced size compared to PNG
This flexibility allows AVIF to replace both JPG and PNG in many scenarios.

Examples:

  • A 6MB PNG graphic can shrink to 1MB AVIF lossless - A 3MB JPG can shrink to 500KB lossy AVIF
AVIF becomes the single universal image format for both everyday photos and transparency-based graphics.

4. AVIF Excels at Preserving Text, Edges, and Gradients

JPEG compression often introduces artifacts, especially around:

  • Small text - Sharp lines - Skin tones - Blue skies - Low-light images
AVIF dramatically reduces these issues. Its compression system handles:
  • Smooth gradients with no banding - Crisp edges with clean lines - Less noise amplification in low-light scenes
For modern high-resolution cameras and smartphones, AVIF keeps far more detail at a fraction of the size.

5. AVIF is Open, Royalty-Free, and Supported by Big Tech

AVIF is not controlled by any single company. It’s open and royalty-free, which means:

  • Developers don’t pay licensing fees - Browsers can support it freely - Hardware acceleration is rapidly becoming universal
As of 2025, AVIF is supported in:
  • Chrome - Firefox - Edge - Safari (full support since 2024) - Android and iOS - Nearly all major cloud services and CDNs
This widespread adoption makes AVIF safe for long-term storage and website use.

6. AVIF Is Perfect for Photo Libraries and Cloud Storage

One of the largest modern problems is cloud storage overload. Users shoot thousands of photos, and cloud providers quietly raise prices or push bigger plans.

AVIF directly solves this:

  • Convert JPG → AVIF = 50–70% savings - Convert PNG → AVIF = 40–80% savings - Convert RAW previews → AVIF = huge reductions - Convert screenshots → AVIF = instant space recovery
For tools like Tomyaya, which optimize cloud storage for everyday users, AVIF is central to reducing total storage usage and lowering monthly bills.

Many users see their libraries shrink from 1TB → 300–600GB after adopting AVIF.

7. AVIF Works Hand-in-Hand With AV1 Video

Because AVIF and AV1 share the same core codec, you get a unified compression ecosystem:

  • AVIF for images - AV1 for videos
Both formats are:
  • High-efficiency - Open-source - Royalty-free - Designed for modern hardware and displays
This creates a cleaner, more predictable workflow for developers, photographers, and cloud tools.

8. Why AVIF Will Replace JPEG and PNG Over Time

JPEG has been around since 1992. PNG since 1996. They weren't designed for modern photography, HDR screens, or cloud ecosystems.

AVIF is built for the next 20 years.

Reasons AVIF will dominate:

  • Smaller sizes = lower cloud costs - Higher quality = better preservation - Broader support = safe long-term use - HDR-ready = future displays - Open standard = no licensing traps
As more apps, OSes, and cameras adopt AVIF, JPEG and PNG will slowly move into legacy status—still usable, but no longer optimal.

Final Thoughts

AVIF isn’t just a new image format—it’s a major leap forward in how digital photos are stored, viewed, and preserved.

  • Smaller than JPEG - Higher quality than PNG - HDR-ready - Future-proof - Cloud-friendly
For anyone who stores a lot of photos—or pays monthly for cloud storage—AVIF is not just a technical upgrade; it’s a financial and performance upgrade.

And for tools like Tomyaya, which help users shrink and optimize massive media libraries, AVIF is the backbone of the next generation of storage savings.

The future of image compression has arrived—and it’s AVIF.

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