clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> (It would of course be possible to implement
> compressed BMP output, but then again, why bother when there are better
> alternatives around nowadays.)

Um...because it would be free of embedded gamma? ;-) (Sorry, I can't seem to let
this poor old horse die a peaceful death.)  Actually, I didn't know that a
compressed BMP image was even possible.

In re-reading the posts here, I get the impression that one of the reasons for
choosing .png as a default is that it's a smaller file size (compared to BMP,
for example.) In the old days--when hard-drive memory was at more of a
premium--that would have been a legitimate argument. But it's an issue that has
far less importance now. (ALTHOUGH, for uploading onto the 'net, a compressed
image is preferable; no argument there. And .png might well be the right choice,
for the reasons given.)

I guess a basic question (or some further food for thought) would be this:
Should the choice of POV's default file type be 'driven' by the needs of the
'net? I would estimate that the ratio of my own POV images (between JPEG/PNG and
BMP) is less than 1%. In other words, I only compress an image when I have to.
No compelling reason to do otherwise.

Although I work on a Windows platform, I actually hadn't considered BMP as an
alternative to the PNG 'default' idea. (It's the POV default anyway, on that
platform.) But it does have one compelling virtue: The majority of computer
users work on Windows--and it's an easy step to convert BMP to JPEG (or PNG!) in
any image app--assuming that everyone who works with POV-Ray *has* another image
app to do that with. (Who doesn't??) Yet, I don't know how/if Macs work with BMP
images; I assume they can handle it.

But in the final analysis, I guess there's nothing wrong with PNG as the
default, if it's implemented and documented well.

Ken

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