An image-format comparison shows why the encoder and workload matter

Jake Archibald compares AVIF and JPEG XL using photographs, screenshots, transparency and lossless images. In his tests, AVIF generally produces smaller lossy web images, while JPEG XL performs better for lossless compression and can shrink existing JPEGs without another quality loss. Encoder choice and effort settings change the tradeoff. His practical recommendation is to compare actual images, rather than pick a format from one headline benchmark.

Jake Archibald · Oct 15, 2026

Why it matters

Image delivery involves file size, visual quality, encoding cost and decoding time, not a single compression number.

More context

The published methodology names avifenc 1.4.2, libjxl 0.12.0 and jixel 0.4.2, tested on an M4 Pro MacBook Pro. Most samples are 1598 pixels wide. The article combines perceptual quality metrics with visual examples and distinguishes lossy delivery from exact archival requirements.

Keep in mind

These are the author’s selected images and implementations. Quality metrics can disagree with visible artifacts; results do not establish a permanent winner for every image pipeline.

Original read