How do BMP and AVIFcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Bitmap Image File
BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. While it produces very large files, BMP preserves every pixel with zero quality loss, making it useful for raw image data and legacy applications.
AV1 Image File Format
AVIF is a next-generation image format based on the AV1 video codec. It offers the best compression ratios available today — significantly better than WebP and JPG — while being royalty-free and open source.
| Specification | BMP | AVIF |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bitmap Image File | AV1 Image File Format |
| Extension | .bmp | .avif |
| MIME type | image/bmp | image/avif |
| Category | Image | Image |
| Developer | Microsoft | Alliance for Open Media |
| Year introduced | 1986 | 2019 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
Choose BMP when you need lossless quality, transparency, or sharp graphics. Choose AVIF when file size matters more than pixel-perfect quality — like photos for the web.
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.