What is WebP?
Next generation image format!
WebP is a still image format recently developed by Google Inc. in the United States. WebP is also called the next generation image format, such as Apple recommended “JPEG 2000” and Microsoft recommended “JPEG XR” and has the following characteristics.
▼ Features of WebP
Development Goals: Reduce Display Speed and Reduce Website Traffic
Superiority over JPEG – smaller file size and less deterioration in image quality
Maximum number of pixels: 16383 x 16383 pixels
Extension: “.webp”
The history of WebP! Refocused on the Core Web Vitals announcement
Although WebP is positioned as a next-generation image format, it has surprisingly been around since 2010.
▼ History of WebP
September 30, 2010: First WebP specification published on the official Google Chrome blog
2011: WebP support when Google Chrome 9.0 and Android 4.0 are released
2013: Opera 15 was announced to support WebP and not APNG when Opera 15 launches.
From the information above, we can see the fact that the history of WebP is surprisingly old and that the proportion of supported browsers has steadily increased. So why is WebP getting so much attention now?
The reason is the official announcement of Google on May 28, 2020! We announce that we will add Core Web Vitals, which includes image display speed as a component, as a UX index to assess search ranking starting in 2021.
So now is a good time to implement WebP, which was developed to reduce display speed and website traffic. Check out the following articles for details on vital web basics and how to improve usability.
What is the impact of Core Web Vitals, to be featured in 2021, on Google search results?
What is the impact of Core Web Vitals, to be featured in 2021, on Google search results?
On May 28, 2020, Google will use Core Web Vitals as a UX indicator for existing signals when evaluating search rankings starting in 2021.
The usability of smartphone sites raises the search ranking! 7 effective improvement points for SEO
The usability of smartphone sites raises the search ranking! 7 effective improvement points for SEO
The “usability of smartphones” is becoming more important as the number of users of mobile browsing increases rather than PC. So in this article, why are you a smartphone user?
Benefits of WebP! Is it better than other image formats?
The biggest advantage of introducing WebP is, after all, the reduction in image weight. As shown below, in theory the image size is considerably smaller than JPEG and PNG.
▼ Slight WebP file size rate
Compared to JPEG: 25-34% smaller
Compared to PNG: about 28% smaller
Furthermore, it supports animation and can handle alpha channels even with lossy compression, making it suitable for exporting transparent images. In fact, when you compare the variety to other image formats, the excellence of WebP is obvious.
▼ Comparative table of 5 types of image formats
Format Compression performance Lossless compression Lossy compression Transparent animation
WebP Very expensive 〇 〇 〇 〇
Raised SVG 〇 × 〇 〇
Raised PNG 〇 × 〇 ×
High JPEG △ 〇 × ×
GIF usually 〇 〇 △ 〇
