RFC - 2083

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Specification Version 1.0

Original:	ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2083.txt
Authors:	T. Boutell, et. al. [Boutell.Com, Inc.]
Date:	March 1997
Category:	Informational

---

Referred by:	6 RFC
Refers to:	5 RFC

---

Status

This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

IESG Note

The IESG takes no position on the validity of any Intellectual Property Rights statements contained in this document.

Abstract

This document describes PNG (Portable Network Graphics), an extensible file format for the lossless, portable, well-compressed storage of raster images. PNG provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF. Indexed-color, grayscale, and truecolor images are supported, plus an optional alpha channel. Sample depths range from 1 to 16 bits.

PNG is designed to work well in online viewing applications, such as the World Wide Web, so it is fully streamable with a progressive display option. PNG is robust, providing both full file integrity checking and simple detection of common transmission errors. Also, PNG can store gamma and chromaticity data for improved color matching on heterogeneous platforms.

This specification defines the Internet Media Type image/png.

---