PNG - Compatibility issues?

[-db-]

I am very impressed with the quality of PNG images since I started experimenting with them recently, and it's nice to have another option besides GIF and JPG to choose from.

My concern is compatibility, and I've always heard the main reason PNG has not become more widely used was due to compatibility issues with some browsers; IE being the biggest concern because so many people use it.

I've looked around for updated info and found these sources to be helpful.

http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/pngstatus.html

http://www.ssmi.com/support/png_image_format.html

But I'm still not certain what exact problems remain today.

Is PNG only an issue when trying to do transparencies, and/or using alpha channel?

Would a regular PNG (no alpha channel - no transparency) be safe to use in most cases?

Please share anything you know.
Thank you.

 

[Joseph]

IE dosent render them properly, some come up black =/

 

[Brian]

A PNG with no alpha channel and no transparency should display properly in all browsers including IE

 

[tm]

IE doesnt render them when they are transparent. else, it does.

 

[Rowan W]

IE does render PNGs even if they have alpha transparency, it just doesn't make them transparent. You can use a filter to force them into alpha-transparency, however this requires so much effort it's not even worth it.

There's only two problems, no alpha-transparency, and a slightly darker image. Otherwise it's all good.

 

[nts]

Yeah, I love PNGs unfortunatly IE dosn't fully support them. However IE7 is supposed to be going to have full support for PNG images. Other browsers such as FireFox and Opera fully support PNGs though.

 

[SirSpider]

I refuse to use png images until 98% of our readers can see them. It is a shame to "waste" a visitor because they cannot see the images properly.

 

[-db-]

Thank you to everyone that posted. Your insight and info is very much appreciated.

I refuse to use png images until 98% of our readers can see them. It is a shame to "waste" a visitor because they cannot see the images properly.

SirSpider, I understand your point and that was the basis of my concern. From what's being said, it would appear that all your visitors would see the PNG images fine, as long as they don't use transparencies / alpha channel.

 

[LeetPCUser]

Also I have noticed the color scheme is off. I will save a png and the background color will be the identical color and in the browser they will be mismatched. I then saved it as a jpg and it matched perfectly.

 

[{insert name here}]

The main reasons for .png files having all these issues, is simply because, .png is not meant to be a final product. It is the same as a .psd, it is an editable graphic file format, they were never meant to be used as web graphics. But since most find them more appealing thats what they have become. I would expect them to be fully recognized as a web graphic in the next year.

 

[Rowan W]

The main reasons for .png files having all these issues, is simply because, .png is not meant to be a final product. It is the same as a .psd, it is an editable graphic file format, they were never meant to be used as web graphics. But since most find them more appealing thats what they have become. I would expect them to be fully recognized as a web graphic in the next year.

http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/png-gif

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) was developed around 1995, became a W3C recommendation in 1996, and has been widely implemented in most Web browsers as soon as 1998.

The reason PNG hasn't taken off is because of IE, nothing more.