571
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] pewgar_seemsimandroid 3 points 3 hours ago
[-] tourist@lemmy.world 56 points 7 hours ago

2029 Headline: Worlds largest data breach caused by zero day exploit in popular PNG 3.0 renderer

the payload was reportedly embedded in an animated image of the attacker repeatedly flicking his left testicle

[-] FrowingFostek@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago
[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 hours ago

I bet it was a single flick and he ran it on a loop.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 20 points 6 hours ago

Animated PNG has been trying to be an extension to the PNG spec for 20+ years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APNG

[-] mlg@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Right there's actually like a select few applications that support it which is cool, but so many get confused when they see an apng file with frames.

[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 9 points 6 hours ago

Jxl train choo choo

[-] lemmyknow@lemmy.today 7 points 6 hours ago

Now if anyone don't mind explaining, PNG vs JXL?

[-] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 11 points 5 hours ago

JXL is badly supported but it does offer lossless encoding in a more flexible and much more efficient way than png doe

Basically jxl could theoretically replace png, jpg, and also exr.

[-] lemmyknow@lemmy.today 4 points 5 hours ago

Interestingly, I downloaded GNOME's pride month wallpaper to see what it looked like, and the files were JXL. Never seen them in the wild before that

[-] db2@lemmy.world 112 points 12 hours ago

But is it backwards compatible with an old version that can't be updated?

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 11 points 6 hours ago

Speaking for animation, your browser probably already supports APNG. APNG is 21 years old and has decent adoption. But it’s officially part of the club.

That said, APNGs are fat as fuck and they’re a pretty old solution to animated graphics with an alpha channel. Don’t expect to see everyone making APNGs all of the sudden. There is a reason why people have kept it at a distance.

[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago

The PNG format is made of chunks that have determined roles, and provides provisions for newer "standardized" chunks alongside the custom chunks it had supported until now. It is likely that PNG made with newer software that does not use new features, or uses only additional features, will remain readable by older software to some extent.

[-] otacon239@lemmy.world 70 points 12 hours ago

Yeah, this was my first thought. How many slightly older, no-longer-being-updated pieces of software will fail to open the new version? Hopefully it’s built in a way that it just falls back to legacy and ignores the extra information so you can at least load the file.

[-] pennomi@lemmy.world 39 points 11 hours ago

Popular photo and video editing apps like Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid Media Composer already support it, alongside Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Apple’s iOS and macOS also work with the new file standard.

This is all the article mentions. I hope you’re right about the backwards compatibility.

[-] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 49 points 11 hours ago

I remember the Wild West Web days when it was a toss up seeing if animated Gifs, transparencies in images, or the specific hexadecimal for your personal shade of purple you created would render properly between browsers.

[-] hakunawazo@lemmy.world 30 points 9 hours ago
[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

Ooh, that was the coaster company, I remember them.

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 22 points 11 hours ago

I mean, that's already how animated .gifs work. If somehow you manage to load one into a viewer that doesn't support the animation functionality it will at least dutifully display the first frame.

How the hell you would manage to do that in this day and age escapes me, but there were a fair few years in the early '90s where you might run into that sort of thing.

load more comments (8 replies)
[-] Tetsuo@jlai.lu 7 points 8 hours ago

I'm probably gonna be massively downvoted for saying the forbidden word but I asked AI to do a summary with references of the forward and backward compatibility of PNG's new version:

!

Based on recent search results, the new PNG specification (Third Edition) and its reference library (libpng) maintain strong backward compatibility while introducing modern features. Here's a detailed compatibility analysis:

🔄 1. Backward Compatibility (Viewing Old PNGs with New Lib)

  • Full Support: The new libpng (1.6.49+) and PNG Third Edition fully support legacy PNG files. Existing PNGs (conforming to the 2003/2004 spec) will render correctly without changes .
  • Implementation Stability: Libpng's API evolution (e.g., hiding png_struct/png_info internals since 1.5.0) ensures older apps using png_get_*/png_set_* functions remain compatible. Direct struct access, deprecated since 1.4.x, may break in libpng 2.0.x (C99-only) .
  • Security Enhancements: Critical vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2019-7317 in png_image_free()) were patched in libpng 1.6.37+, making the new lib safer for decoding old files .

⚠️ 2. Forward Compatibility (Viewing New PNGs with Old Lib)

  • Basic Support: Older libpng versions (pre-1.6.37) can decode new PNGs if they avoid new features. Core chunks like IHDR or IDAT remain unchanged .
  • New Feature Limitations:
    • HDR Imagery: Requires libpng 1.6.45+ and apps supporting the mDCv chunk. Older libs ignore HDR data, falling back to SDR, which may cause color inaccuracies .
    • APNG Animation: Officially standardized in PNG Third Edition. Older libs (e.g., <1.6) treat APNG as static images, showing only the first frame .
    • EXIF Metadata: New eXIf chunks are ignored by legacy decoders, losing metadata like GPS or copyright info .
  • Security Risks: Older libs (e.g., ≤1.6.36) contain unpatched vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2015-8126). Parsing malicious new PNGs could exploit these flaws .

📊 Compatibility Summary

Scenario Compatibility Key Considerations
Old PNG → New Lib ✅ Excellent Legacy files work flawlessly; security improved.
New PNG → Old Lib ⚠️ Partial Basic rendering works, but HDR/APNG/EXIF ignored. Security risks in unpatched versions.
New Features 🔧 Conditional Requires updated apps (e.g., Photoshop, browsers) and OS support .

🔧 3. Implementation and Industry Adoption

  • Broad Support: Major browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox), OSs (iOS, macOS), and tools (Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve) already support the new spec .
  • Progressive Enhancement: New features like HDR use optional chunks, ensuring graceful degradation in older software .
  • Future-Proofing: Work on PNG Fourth Edition (HDR/SDR interoperability) and Fifth Edition (better compression) is underway .

💎 Conclusion

  • Upgrade Recommended: New libpng (1.6.49+) ensures security and full compatibility with legacy files.
  • Test Workflows: Verify critical tools handle new features (e.g., APNG animation in browsers).
  • Fallbacks for Old Systems: For environments stuck with outdated libs, convert new PNGs to legacy format (e.g., strip HDR/APNG) .

For developers: Use png_get_valid(png_ptr, info_ptr, PNG_INFO_mDCv) to check HDR support and provide fallbacks .

!<

load more comments (11 replies)
load more comments (12 replies)
[-] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 46 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

I could have sworn animated pngs were a thing in the Macromedia Fireworks days. Really dating myself with that ref.

[-] nyan@lemmy.cafe 41 points 12 hours ago

There were two different animated PNG extensions, MNG and APNG. Neither of them ever really caught on. I guess they're hoping to do better by baking it into the core spec.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (10 replies)
[-] Zarxrax@lemmy.world 22 points 11 hours ago

Fracturing support for a legacy format makes so much more sense than actually supporting a modern format like JXL, right?

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
571 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

72319 readers
2357 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS