Which image file format is commonly used that typically employs lossy compression to reduce file size?

Which image file format is commonly used that typically employs lossy compression to reduce file size?

• A. RAW
• B. JPEG
• C. PNG
• D. TIFF

Answer: (B)

Lossy compression reduces file size by discarding some image data that the eye is less likely to notice. JPEG is designed around this idea for photographs: it uses transform coding with quantization and often chroma subsampling, which aggressively compresses color information and fine details to produce much smaller files. The result is a good balance of visual quality and size, making JPEG the default choice for web photos and consumer cameras. You can adjust the quality setting to control how much detail is lost, trading off fidelity for smaller sizes. In contrast, RAW captures are essentially unprocessed sensor data, PNG uses lossless compression, and TIFF is often stored losslessly (though it can be used with lossy options). That's why JPEG is the format commonly used when lossy compression is intended.

Lossy compression reduces file size by discarding some image data that the eye is less likely to notice. JPEG is designed around this idea for photographs: it uses transform coding with quantization and often chroma subsampling, which aggressively compresses color information and fine details to produce much smaller files. The result is a good balance of visual quality and size, making JPEG the default choice for web photos and consumer cameras. You can adjust the quality setting to control how much detail is lost, trading off fidelity for smaller sizes.

In contrast, RAW captures are essentially unprocessed sensor data, PNG uses lossless compression, and TIFF is often stored losslessly (though it can be used with lossy options). That's why JPEG is the format commonly used when lossy compression is intended.