HEIF and BMP explained
HEIF is the underlying container standard that HEIC is a specific profile of. The distinction matters mainly to developers: HEIF describes the box structure, while HEIC specifies HEVC-compressed contents inside it.
BMP stores pixels essentially raw, with little or no compression. A 1920×1080 BMP is around 6 MB regardless of what the picture contains, because every pixel takes the same space whether it is part of a gradient or a flat colour.
- Where HEIF files come from
- Newer cameras and some Android devices, alongside Apple's HEIC.
- Where BMP is used
- Legacy Windows software, some scientific and industrial imaging tools.