The Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, is a bitmap image format developed by CompuServe and released on June 15, 1987, led by computer scientist Steve Wilhite. It was created to provide color images for CompuServe's file downloading services, replacing an earlier black and white encoding scheme. GIF compresses images without loss of quality using Lempel-Ziv-Welch compression, supports up to 256 colors per image and can store several images in a single file, a feature that lets it hold simple animations. Though newer formats have replaced it for ordinary photographs, GIF remains the standard format for small looping animations and has had a cultural second life as the format behind reaction GIFs shared on social media.
Facts
SignificanceGIF used Lempel-Ziv-Welch compression to deliver much smaller color images than the black-and-white run-length formats it replaced, and a licensing dispute over the Unisys patent on that compression algorithm in 1994 helped drive development of the rival PNG format. 1 FAQs
Is the GIF format free to use?
The specification grants a limited, royalty-free license for use in software, with acknowledgement of CompuServe.
The 89a version of the GIF specification says the format is the copyright property of CompuServe, and that only CompuServe is authorized to define, redefine, enhance, alter, modify or change the definition of the format. The same specification grants a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license for the use of the format in computer software. Software that uses it must acknowledge CompuServe's ownership of the format and its service mark.
Connections
In Field
Source GIF (Wikipedia)
Invented By
Source Wikipedia: Steve Wilhite
Sources
1. GIF (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory section, introduction date
CompuServe introduced GIF on 15 June 1987 to provide a color image format for their file downloading areas.
History section, LZW patent dispute
While GIF was developed by CompuServe, it used the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) lossless data compression algorithm patented by Unisys in 1985.
- In Group: Digital Image File Formats, lead sentence: a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe
In Field: Software Engineering, Introduction
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; GHIF or JIF, see § Pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on June 15, 1987.
View the Source Wikipedia: Steve Wilhite
Invented By: Steve Wilhite, LeadQuote, Invented By: Steve Wilhite, Lead
CompuServe and was the engineering lead on the team that created the GIF image file format in 1987. GIF went on
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.