Comparison of layout engines (graphics)

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The following tables compare graphics compatibility and support for a number of layout engines. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs.

Version numbers, if possible, are provided for features that are fully supported. Proprietary extensions are not included.

Explanation of the tables

Engine nomenclature

Rather than the names of web browsers, the names of the underlying engines are used. The browsers that use the various engines are listed below.

Layout engine Used by
Trident Internet Explorer and other Internet Explorer shells (Microsoft Windows operating systems only)
Tasman Mac OS X versions of Internet Explorer and MSN
Gecko All Mozilla software, including Firefox; SeaMonkey; Galeon; Camino; K-Meleon; Flock; also Epiphany-gecko
WebKit Apple Safari; Google Chrome; Shiira; iCab 4; OmniWeb 5.5+; Epiphany; Adobe AIR; Midori; Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
KHTML Konqueror
Presto Opera; Opera Mobile, Nintendo DS Browser; Internet Channel; future Adobe Systems products
iCab iCab 1-3
Prince XML Prince

Values

Values indicate the level of support in the most recent version of the layout engine, or (if a version number is given) in the specified version. Version numbers without any other value indicate the version at which the layout engine first fully supported the feature.

Value Meaning
Yes Indicates that the layout engine fully supports this property/element when valid values are used.
No Indicates that the property/element is completely ignored.
Partial Indicates that the property/element is understood, but that not all values are supported. Supported values are implemented correctly.
Incorrect Indicates that the property/element is understood, but that it is not implemented correctly in all cases.
Experimental Indicates that the property/element is understood, but supported under an alternate name. May be incomplete or buggy.
Dropped Indicates that the property/element is no longer supported.
Nightly build Indicates that the property/element is supported to some extent in an experimental/nightly build. Future support is expected.

Image format support

Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto iCab Prince XML
JPEG/JFIF 3.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 Yes 3.0
JPEG 2000 (.jp2) No No No 412 No No No No
GIF GIF 89a 3.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 Yes 5.0
GIF 87a
PNG 1.2 (W3C/ISO/IEC version) 7.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 Yes 3.0
1.1
1.0
MNG 1.0 No No Dropped No Yes No No No
JNG 1.0 No
APNG 1.0 1.9 No No 2.1
bitmap Yes ? Yes Yes Yes 1.0 ? ?
WBMP No ? No ? ? 1.0 ? ?
ICO Yes ? Yes Yes Yes 1.0 Yes ?
TIFF No No No Yes Yes No No 3.0
XBM 6.0 ? 1.9.2 Yes ? 1.0 ? No

KHTML general overview notes

  1. KHTML — Does not have any native image support. This is by design: in Konqueror, multimedia files are handled by KParts.

Gecko general overview notes

  1. Gecko — uses the libpr0n-library to render images.

Prince TIFF overview notes

  1. Prince — uses the libtiff-library to load TIFF images.

JPEG support

Comparison of various JPEG/JFIF feature support.

Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KParts Presto iCab Prince XML
Operation mode Progressive 3.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 Yes 3.0
Baseline 3.0
Hierarchical ?
Lossless No

Trident JPEG support notes

  1. Progressive — The Trident layout engine only displays the image once it has been completely downloaded.

Prince JPEG support notes

  1. Prince uses libjpeg-library from the Independent JPEG Group to load JPEG pictures

GIF support

Comparison of various GIF feature support.

Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KParts Presto iCab Prince XML
GIF 87a Interlacing 3.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 Yes 3.0
GIF 89a Binary transparency
Animation

Prince Gif support notes

  1. Prince uses the libungif-library to load Gif images

PNG support

Comparison of various PNG feature support.

Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KParts Presto iCab Prince XML
Color mode True color 4.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 Yes 3.0
Grayscale
Palette-based (max. 256 colors)
Alpha channel 7.0 Yes 1.0 85 Yes 1.0 1.8 3.0
Gamma correction No Partial Incorrect No Partial No ?
Color correction 1.9 ? ? No ? 3.0
Interlacing Incorrect 1.0 ? 4.0 1.0 ? ?
Integrity checking ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

General PNG support notes

  1. Color mode — There are 15 combinations of the color modes in PNG. Not all modes are available in every image tool though.
  2. Gamma correction — Gecko and Presto currently support gamma correction for all color profiles except for ICC-profile.[1]

Trident PNG support notes

  1. Interlacing — Interlaced PNG is displayed progressively, but in 1D instead of 2D.

WebKit PNG support notes

  1. Gamma correction — It is incorrectly applied to unlabeled PNGs.[2]

Prince PNG support notes

  1. Prince uses libpng-library to load PNG pictures.

References