Its an alternative to JPEG. And now you might ask why someone should use WebP instead of JPEG. Well, one of the reasons for Google to offer such a opportunity is the size of the picture.
The new format uses much less space than JPEG. And not only with the same, but with better quality. You can see this on a example. Those images has been converted to PNG so you can see it in your browser now.
JPEG | WEBP |
|---|---|
 |  |
| 1093968 bytes | 368168 (66.35%) |
| Image URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2004_Theodore_Too_%26_Queen_Mary_2_in_Halifax.jpg Image Title: Boat "Theodore Too" sailing next to boat "Queen Mary 2" in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Image Author: Emmanuelm | |
Mind the characters "Queen Mary 2". The artifacts are gone on WebP and it's 66.35% less big in size.
The format makes use of the same library used for WebM. So Firefox and Opera will surely integrate it in their browsers. Google tries to get this in th WebKit, too. But everyone doubts that the fruit company is pleased with that idea. However, no need to say, that Chrome will support it too, right?
If you want to know more you can visit the official site.
