Multiple-image Network Graphics

See also: MNG

The Multiple-image Network Graphics ( MNG ) is a format of animated digital images open.

Format MNG is closely related to the format of image png. When the development of png started with the beginning of the year 1995, it was decided not to incorporate the management of animation, because this possibility of the format GIF in this time was employed little. However, another format managing animation was quickly developed, format MNG, an extension of format png. Version 1.0 of the specifications of MNG left on January 31st 2001.

Technical details

The structure of the files to format MNG is basically identical to that of files png, differing only in the signature (8A 4D 4th 47 0D 0A 1A 0A in Hexadécimal) and in the use of discrete units of information providing a large variety of devices of animation. The images used in animation are stored in file MNG like a encapsulation of images to format png or JNG.

Two versions of MNG of reduced complexity were also created: MNG-LC (low complexity) and MNG-VLC (very low complexity). Those make it possible applications to include the support of MNG to a certain degree, without having to put all the specifications of MNG.

MNG does not have yet a type recorded of video support MIME, but video/x-mng or image/x-mng can be used.

Support of the Navigators Web

Konqueror is the only one to deal with officially the format. Safari does not support it.

plugins of MNG are available for Opera and Internet Explorer.

Mozilla and consequently Netscape withdrew the support of MNG and JNG (compression JPEG) since Mozilla 1.5a and Netscape 7.1. Rehabilitation has seemed compromised - in spite of the objections of the community (more than 800 votes) for more than seven years. A patch for Mozilla named MNGZilla is maintained by third developers. The developers of Mozilla stated to prefer to work on the support of APNG.

The developers of MNG hope that MNG will in the long term start to replace the GIF for images animated on the Web, in the same way that format png already started to do it for still images.

References