The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has officially published the Third Edition of the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) specification, marking the first major update to the format in over two decades. The previous revision, the Second Edition, was released in 2003.
This new update brings significant improvements to the widely used image format, most notably:
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Native HDR (High Dynamic Range) support for richer, more vibrant colors and brightness levels.
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Built-in EXIF metadata support, allowing PNG images to include camera information, orientation, timestamps, and more.
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Official support for animated PNGs (APNG)—a long-awaited feature that enables PNG images to contain multiple frames for simple animations, similar to GIFs but with better quality and compression.
In addition to these headline features, the Third Edition also resolves several legacy errors and includes minor technical enhancements to improve format stability and compatibility across platforms.
The update reflects years of community feedback and ongoing development efforts, ensuring that PNG remains a modern, versatile choice for web and digital imaging. This move could lead to broader adoption of APNGs, better image fidelity on HDR displays, and richer metadata handling across modern applications.
For more technical details, visit the official announcement on Phoronix.
