⚙️ Techpublished 2w ago
A sudden royalty demand created the web's favorite transparent image format
In 1994, tech company Unisys announced it would collect royalties on software using LZW compression—the mathematical engine powering GIF images. Infuriated developers united to build an open, royalty-free successor. Within months, they created PNG, which officially stood for Portable Network Graphics and tongue-in-cheek for "PNG's Not GIF." Beyond avoiding patent fees, PNG introduced superior 24-bit true color and true variable transparency, replacing GIF for modern web design.
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