TL;DR:
Despite being sidelined by Google’s Chrome team years ago, the JPEG XL (JXL) image format has secured a major win. The PDF Association has announced it will integrate JXL into the official PDF specification as the “preferred solution” for high-end imaging, potentially forcing tech giants to reconsider the format’s “obsolete” status.
The “format wars” just took an unexpected turn. In a move that breathed fresh air into a supposedly dying technology, the PDF Association has officially thrown its weight behind JPEG XL, expanding its scope for compatibility.
During a recent European conference, Peter Wyatt, CTO of the PDF Association, confirmed that the organization, which manages the ISO standards for PDF, will adopt JPEG XL to modernize how documents handle high-quality imagery. The decision marks a significant pivot point for a format that has spent the last three years in a state of digital limbo.
Why PDF Chose JXL?
While the web industry has been hesitant, the PDF Association sees JXL as the answer to several long-standing technical hurdles. Wyatt highlighted the format’s ability to handle HDR (High Dynamic Range) content and its staggering scalability.
Key technical advantages cited include:
- Massive Resolution: Support for images exceeding 1 billion pixels.
- Deep Color: Up to 32 bits per channel across 4,099 channels.
- Efficiency: Superior compression compared to traditional JPEGs without losing image metadata.
The Chrome Controversy
The adoption is a direct challenge to the narrative set by Google. In late 2022, the Chromium team famously stripped JXL support from the world’s most popular browser, labeling it “obsolete” and claiming a lack of ecosystem interest.
This move sparked a firestorm among developers and photographers who argued that JXL was being sacrificed to favor AVIF, a rival format backed by Google. Critics, including the original creators of JXL, have long maintained that the format’s technical superiority was being ignored for corporate strategy.
A Fragmented Landscape
While the PDF Association’s endorsement is a massive endorsement, the road to mainstream use remains bumpy:
- Apple: Currently provides partial support across iOS and macOS, though features like animated JXLs remain restricted.
- Mozilla: Firefox developers are open to the format but are waiting for a more secure, Rust-based decoder to mitigate the risks associated with the current C++ implementation.
- Microsoft: Windows 11 users currently require a separate extension to view the files natively.
Effortless JPEG XL Support with JDeli
As JPEG XL gains traction within the PDF standard, JDeli provides a seamless bridge for Java developers looking to stay ahead of the curve. Our high-performance image library offers robust support for reading and writing JXL files, ensuring your applications can handle the massive resolutions and deep color profiles mentioned above without complex native dependencies.
By integrating JDeli, you can automatically convert JXL images for use in legacy PDF workflows or generate modern, JXL-encoded PDFs that meet the latest industry specifications.
The Bottom Line
By making JPEG XL a “preferred solution” for the world’s most ubiquitous document format, the PDF Association is making it much harder for browser engines to ignore. If Chrome users begin opening PDFs containing JXL data, Google may find its “obsolete” label increasingly difficult to defend.
For now, JPEG XL remains an efficient choice for developers, a high-performance tool waiting for the rest of the web to catch up.
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