[HN Gopher] PNG Specification (Third Edition) W3C Working Draft ...
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       PNG Specification (Third Edition) W3C Working Draft 20 July 2023
        
       Author : robin_reala
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2023-07-20 12:09 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.w3.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.w3.org)
        
       | chungy wrote:
       | Is this by the same people or is it a competitor to the PNG
       | development group (http://libpng.org/pub/png/)?
       | 
       | The latter's website still heavily says that PNG is a still image
       | only format, and promotes MNG as the animation alternative. Of
       | course, that's not how web browsers have played it out, and it
       | also appears to me that the libpng source code still lacks "APNG"
       | support. This makes me think it's a competing standard to the
       | original developers.
        
       | robin_reala wrote:
       | Changes since the 2nd edition of PNG:[1]
       | 
       | - APNG added to the spec
       | 
       | - A new CICP chunk that paves the way for HDR support
       | 
       | - EXIF part of the main spec
       | 
       | - Various other fixes
       | 
       | [1] https://www.w3.org/TR/png-3/#changes-20031110
        
         | Pinus wrote:
         | EXIF... If I remember correctly, EXIF uses the TIFF file
         | structure. Am I right? Does this mean that a PNG file, with its
         | relatively simple format, would have inside it an EXIF chunk
         | with a potentially different byte order and absolute offsets
         | all over the place?
        
         | mistrial9 wrote:
         | > EXIF
         | 
         | .. because we all need UUIDs and device origin on every image
         | on the net?
        
           | refulgentis wrote:
           | EXIF is an arbitrary metadata schema. Nothing about it
           | implies or mandates UUIDs and device origin.
           | 
           | UUIDs, I've never seen in EXIF.
           | 
           | Device origin, if I interpret as "camera model" or "GPS if
           | enabled", I have seen.
        
             | somat wrote:
             | I guess my question is, PNG already has an arbitrary
             | metadata chunk, what does EXIF bring to the table that is
             | not already there?
        
           | mattl wrote:
           | No but adding attribution and licensing to an image would be
           | very useful.
        
             | Daneel_ wrote:
             | Reliable date information too.
        
           | MontagFTB wrote:
           | The chunk is ancillary, so if size matters it can be omitted.
        
             | codetrotter wrote:
             | Size is not the problem. Privacy is.
        
               | pengaru wrote:
               | If you're relying on file formats to preserve your
               | privacy you've already lost.
        
               | naikrovek wrote:
               | then don't add that chunk to your files...
               | 
               | or write a tool which strips it... it's an easy format.
               | 
               | feel free to complain, but also take action, or it's all
               | wasted breath and whining. no one wants to hear people
               | describe their problems poorly while also taking zero
               | action to fix those problems.
        
               | antisthenes wrote:
               | So make sure your image processing pipeline strips out
               | all metadata?
               | 
               | Seems kind of a non-issue and AFAIK most image hosting
               | software and social media already strips out metadata
               | anyway for this reason (I know Discord does, not sure
               | about others)
        
               | 8n4vidtmkvmk wrote:
               | Pretty sure there was metadata in there already.
               | Stablediffusion has been saving data into there for
               | awhile now. It's not evil in intent. Just strip it out.
        
               | rhn_mk1 wrote:
               | XMP metadata: https://dev.exiv2.org/projects/exiv2/wiki/T
               | he_Metadata_in_PN...
        
               | KerrAvon wrote:
               | EXIF is valuable metadata for many use cases. Location
               | data and fingerprinting are absolutely problems and the
               | solution is to strip that information before you post
               | images anywhere. Having it in the spec is a net win for
               | privacy because it provides a standard chunk for it so
               | that tools can universally strip it out.
        
               | tracker1 wrote:
               | Worked on a small charity project a few years ago, that
               | included coordinating images with their geolocation for a
               | specific trail to mark signage, etc. Was definitely
               | useful. Not useful was the image orientation displaying
               | differently in different browsers.
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-20 23:03 UTC)