CompuServe Messages

GIF viewing problems

    11-Aug-91 18:13:00
Fm: Steve Bennett/SYSOP 76702,1071
To: Rick Cross 70700,2760
The GIFLite header, if it *does* fall before the "GIF89a", does *not* follow the GIF specification for regular GIF files. (What little specification there is of it, anyway. Basically a GIF file is supposed to consist solely of a GIF data stream, which starts with "GIF89a".) However, it does follow the specification for use of GIF within a specific application. To wit, GIFLite. It is therefore to be assumed that ALL GIF viewers out there will fail to view such a file unless they have been rewritten to handle GIFLite files as well. Personally, I feel GIFLite defeats the purpose behind GIF as well. GIF is designed to be able to 100% reproduce the original image (provided it was 256 or less colors), and anything like JPEG or GIFLite which reduces that information, is, IMHO, not really GIF anymore. –>Steve Bennett