How do JPG and ICOcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Joint Photographic Experts Group
JPG (also known as JPEG) is the most widely used image format for photographs and complex images. It uses lossy compression to significantly reduce file size while maintaining acceptable visual quality.
Icon File Format
ICO is the icon file format used by Windows for application icons and website favicons. It can contain multiple image sizes and color depths in a single file.
| Specification | JPG | ICO |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joint Photographic Experts Group | Icon File Format |
| Extension | .jpg | .ico |
| MIME type | image/jpeg | image/x-icon |
| Category | Image | Image |
| Developer | Joint Photographic Experts Group | Microsoft |
| Year introduced | 1992 | 1985 |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossless |
Both JPG and ICO have their strengths. JPG excels at photography and photo sharing, while ICO is better for website favicons.
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